Losing The Love
by Mz-Kitty-Kat
Summary: Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru’s love... And that’s loosing her love... Can she win her back or will she loose her for good?
1. Prologue

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

* * *

**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters they are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

I also do not own the song or the song's lyrics. It is owned by various music companies, productions and records. I only used this song to inspire me to create the setting of the story and there was no profit gained from making this story. So please don't sue for I am broke. The song **Loosing the Love **is performed by the music artist known as **Joy Enriquez **and has no connection to me what so ever.

* * *

**_Author's Pre-notes:_**

This story is inspired by the Joy Enriquez's song "Loosing the Love". I kept having this picture in my head and decided to write it. This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **Hoppy-Chan**. Thank you very much.

For those who doesn't like reading the song lyrics, you can simply skip the italics since it doesn't really affect the story as much. I just included it to help me write and create a sort of atmosphere. (",)

Also I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai Hime so my knowledge of Mai Hime is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

**The Setting: **This story takes place six months after the Hime Carnival but before the graduation. So **AU and OOC is to be expected**. You have been dutifully warned.

_Italics _means Song Lyrics

**Bold Underline** means referring to mystery person

**Bold** means thoughts

* * *

**Loosing the Love**

by

**Joy Enriquez**

Kuga Natsuki, Fujino Shizuru & Mystery Person

(Can you guess who the mystery person is?)

* * *

Natsuki sat alone in her reconstructed apartment room. She was sitting by the window ledge as she watched the ground below. The horizon itself felt melancholy to her, matching her mood very well. She wasn't really the pensive type. She usually wasn't plagued with her thoughts in regards to her personal life, but today just felt so cold.

She felt so alone and the thoughts she tried to put at the back of her mind came crashing forth. Most of the time she would be too preoccupied with other types of thoughts. Thoughts about rage and revenge for the people that have wronged her. That ruined her life. The people of the First District.

She felt her nails dig into the palm of her hands at the very thought of people that were responsible for her mother's untimely death. To the many hardships she had dealt with, growing up alone and not trusting anybody. Yet while these thoughts dominated her mind, another thought kept trying to insinuate itself within. That no matter how tragic her life seemed to have turned out or how unbearable it seemed to get, it had brought her to encounter one of the most precious person who graced this harsh and unforgiving world.

It brought Fujino Shizuru.

_There are days when I regret it  
The things I said to you_

Natsuki smiled thinking about their very first encounter. She was distant and harsh to Shizuru but that didn't hinder the Kyoto woman. Instead, she gave Natsuki an honest smile and spoke to her as if she wasn't even rude to her. Spoke to her as though she really cared and was honestly sincere. No pretentious bullshit nor did she want anything from her. Why would she?

She was Fujino Shizuru, the student council president. The most popular girl in the whole academy. The woman that walked with such grace and refinery that she had her own set of devoted fan girls following her every wish and followed her everywhere she goes. Yet there she was trying to socialize with her. The rebel. The outcast and troublemaker.

She was sure that if the Kyoto woman wanted someone to fawn over or talk to, there would be no shortage of volunteers who would give their limbs just for the opportunity. So why was she wasting her time trying to make friends with someone like her? Someone who is completely different from her.

_I put my trust in no one  
It broke my heart and I blamed it on you_

Natsuki tried to keep her distance, kept Shizuru at arms length. Even going so far as avoiding the other woman, but no matter where she turned, she was there. Eager to listen to her inane rudeness or perhaps sharing her silence when she wanted her company. She even helped, supported and aided her with her studies and even unwittingly helped her "secret" research on the First division everytime Natsuki borrowed her laptop. Before she knew it, Shizuru had managed to worm her presence around the invisible icy façade she had created for herself.

Natsuki didn't want to admit it then, but she was happy Shizuru had put up with her. She never could explain how the other woman had brightened her day every time Shizuru showed concern for her well-being. Her companionship made the cold loneliness she felt simply vanish.

Natsuki also didn't like that over time, she had become more dependant on her presence. How she missed the other woman whenever Shizuru was too busy with the student council. She blamed Shizuru for making her rely on her. For making her miss her. How she made her unconsciously seek her out, enough to even stay with her at the council room while Shizuru did her work after class. Just to be able to have her company. She didn't dare admit it, since it would only make the Kyoto woman have the ammunition to tease her.

Shizuru made her aware of the presence of loneliness whenever she wasn't around and Natsuki hated her for it.

_You are kind and oh so gentle  
But I refused to see  
That someone like you existed_

Shizuru was always patient with her. Always made time for her and had always been there for her, but Natsuki took all those things for granted. Natsuki was too engrossed on her own vengeance to ever appreciate the little things Shizuru had done for her. So unwittingly, she became selfish. She took whatever Shizuru gave and not once did she ever voice her appreciation.

_I was somewhere in denial  
While you were loving me_

Natsuki should have known about Shizuru's feelings. All the signs where there. But she denied all these because she was too busy with her past to deal with the present. She put Shizuru aside and focused her sights on her quest. Ignored the growing tension between them, for acknowledging her feelings would only bring heartache and awkwardness. She didn't want to loose what they have. So she turned her blind eye on all of Shizuru's gestures. Ignored and remained oblivious to her subtle hints.

_I cried myself to sleep last night  
When I woke up  
There were tear stains on my pillow_

Natsuki felt tears on her cheeks. She remembered the Carnival. What she had forced Shizuru to do. What she drove her to do. If only she was brave enough to confront her then, perhaps the whole incident wouldn't have had to happen.

The First District was gone. Her revenge had been fulfilled. Shizuru took it upon herself to not let Natsuki's hands be sullied with blood. Not to stain her soul. She avenged Natsuki from the people that hurt her by decimating the organization and seeking vengeance on the people that even dared to threaten her. Shizuru was driven to madness all because of her.

_It hurt so much to sacrifice what I gave up  
Without you in my life  
I will always feel lonely  
Loosing the love  
From someone like you_

The extent of Shizuru's love frightened her. Knowing it was her that caused her most precious person to commit the most horrendous crime. She knew she needed to act. To stop her and she did.

At the church ruins , in her final moments when she was sure Shizuru was going to finish her off when her naginata's blade wrapped itself around her body, she was surprised to feel Shizuru's warm embrace replace the deadly weapon. She had spun around and landed in her arms.

She could see all the regret, love and madness as she looked into her crimson eyes.

The sheer honesty and love that were mixed in the madness that danced in her eyes, but at the same time pleading for her to forgive her for loving her too much. The shame that briefly sparked in those very same eyes strengthened Natsuki's resolve as to why she came after Shizuru in the first place. Natsuki couldn't help but feel guilty at the sight of her most precious person, knowing it was she that did this to her. At that very moment she knew she had to pay for her own sins. Make it up to her somehow. So without another second thought, she kissed Shizuru.

She felt cruel when she saw the surprise and pure happiness in Shizuru's eyes. She owed Shizuru the truth. That was when Natsuki admitted to Shizuru how she felt. That even though she was happy that Shizuru loved her, she cannot love her the way Shizuru wanted to. She couldn't tell her how much Shizuru's love frightened her for the fear of inflicting more pain on Shizuru's already fragile state.

But she knew she had to pay for the crimes they had done. So while Shizuru contemplated her words she ordered Duran to destroy Shizuru's Kiyohime. She will repent for the crimes she had forced on to Shizuru, with Shizuru in her arms they will repent together. As they began to vanish she couldn't help but feel happy that even at the brink of death, she wasn't alone. She felt Shizuru's warm embrace on her own body and for the first time she felt at peace.

But Natsuki should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. As they were revived, both she and Shizuru were confronted by the harsh reality of what they had done. To where their relationship stands.

It seemed Shizuru was able to read Natsuki's mind without the briefest words exchanged between them like she always had. She knew Natsuki would feel awkward and would feel burdened if they tried to continue on as though nothing has happened, when they both knew differently. Shizuru knew the truth and the answer they must make. Rather than question her about it or confront her, she did what she did best.

Shizuru followed her wishes. Shizuru knew it would be hard on Natsuki for them to continue on whatever relationship they may have. It will only bring them grief, pain and suffering. So rather than burdening and troubling her any further, Shizuru began to distance herself away. She softened the blow for Natsuki slowly as she distanced herself so she wouldn't feel guilty or worry about her anymore. Shizuru began to make excuses. Soon she was no longer by Natsuki's side. It was as if she was never there to begin with.

More tears began to fall from Natsuki's eyes. She was back at the beginning. She was alone again.

The cold and emptiness she felt before didn't compare to what she felt right now. Back then she wasn't aware of her loneliness. she had always had Shizuru and now that she was no longer by her side, it seemed the loneliness she felt was amplified five times over. But Natsuki knew she shouldn't feel this way. She had friends now. She had Mai, Mikoto, Aoi and Chie as well as the other ex-himes and Kaiji Sakomizu, so why does she feel this way?

* * *

_Not a day goes by without something  
Reminding me of you  
The truth is that I miss you  
I gets so hard not being with you_

She walked through the newly rebuilt academy. But everywhere she went there was something that reminded her of Shizuru. Before she knew it, she was standing by the gardens where they first met.

She saw her standing there, admiring the flowers. It had been so long since they had last spoken to each other. It almost made her laugh at the bitter irony of their encounter.

But as she took a step to approach her something made her stop. She saw Shizuru turn around to acknowledge someone else's presence. The smile on her face, the smile Natsuki was so sure that was reserve for her alone was bestowed to someone else.

She felt her heart constrict and her heartache. A piercing pain sliced through her like a sharp blade. She stood there frozen as she watched Shizuru walk away with **her**, not even noticing her presence.

_There are times when I go crazy  
In the twilight of the night_

Natsuki couldn't help but cry as she buried her head against her arms.

"How can you easily replace me Shizuru?" She questioned the Kyoto woman as though she was there. But another nagging voice in her mind voiced it self.

**"This is what you wanted wasn't it? You didn't want her love. It's only proper that she found someone who deserved her love."**

But despite these words she couldn't help but feel like she was betrayed. It had already been six months since the carnival. It was only natural that they had move on. She should have expected that they would drift apart especially because of what happened between them.

She really didn' t need Shizuru now. She had made friends. She wasn't alone anymore. She no longer needs her presence in her life.

So why does it hurt?

Why won't the pain go away?

Why does she feel as though she had been betrayed?

* * *

_How I long to be your woman again  
There's a pain that I hold  
That will not let me go_

She saw them again today. She wanted to march over to them and scream at both of them but she restrained herself. She remained silent in Mai and Mikoto's company. They were eating lunch together which had become a routine for them since the revival.

She didn't mean for eyes to wander off but when they did, she spotted them eating not so far away. Somewhere discrete so that Shizuru's fan club wouldn't be able to disturb them. Natsuki wanted so badly to boldly call out Shizuru's name. To scream out where Shizuru was so that Shizuru's fan club would disturbed them but stopped when she saw the look in Shizuru's features.

Shizuru looked like she was happy. Genuinely happy. As if it Natsuki herself she were having lunch with when it wasn't her. She saw how relaxed Shizuru was with **her**. Like the way she would be if Natsuki was the one at **her** place. She saw Shizuru laugh which brought a sharp pain through her. How long has it been since Natsuki had seen Shizuru laugh? Natsuki didn't know.

She had to admit though that when Shizuru wanted to be discrete, she was able to do so. Natsuki was sure that if she wasn't so familiar with Shizuru she wouldn't even be able to find them, but she did and now she regretted it. It wasn't really that hard to do considering who Shizuru was and who she was with. Seeing them would have raised people's eyebrows. Anyone's eyebrows to be in fact.

Natsuki saw Shizuru's companion caught her eyes and impudently gave her a smirk of triumph. **She** shifted closer to the Kyoto woman while keeping **her** gaze locked onto Natsuki's. **She** was being subtle not alert Shizuru that she had caught Natsuki staring at them.

Natsuki bristled. She knew she was doing it on purpose but what can she do?

"Natsuki, are you alright?" Mai asked her. Interrupting her cold glare. If looks could kill, **she** would have been turned into dust.

"I"m fine." Natsuki answered even though she really wasn't. She tried to avert her gaze so that Mai couldn't follow them. She tried to pry her eyes away from them but couldn't. It was as if she was a glutton for punishment.

She was glad that lunch finally finished as she packed up her unfinished lunch. She wasn't hungry anymore and had completely lost her appetite. She didn't even wait for Mai or Mikoto as she dashed off to be alone. She didn't show up for the rest of her classes that day.

* * *

_I cried myself to sleep last night  
When I woke up__  
There were tear stains on my pillow_

_It hurt so much to sacrifice what I gave up_

_  
Without you in my life  
I will always feel lonely  
Loosing the love  
From someone like you_

Out of all the people Shizuru could be with why did it have to be **her**? She was aware that in a couple of weeks time, Shizuru would leave for college. Was it wrong of her to want to spend that last couple of weeks with Shizuru instead of Shizuru being with **her**?

Natsuki yet again spent her nights depressed and thinking about them. Her eyes burned from the constant tears that kept falling from her emerald eyes. How many nights had she cried herself to sleep? She didn't know.

"What do you see in **her** Shizuru? Why are you with **her**? Do you still care for me at all? Do you even miss me? Have you replaced me with **her**?"

Natsuki buried her face into her arms once again as her thoughts tormented her. Why did it hurt so much to see Shizuru happy with someone else?

She didn't even notice her hands had formed into tight fists as she thought of Shizuru's companion. She was sure she was only using Shizuru but what can she do? Shizuru looked happier now.

Natsuki continued to cry.

* * *

_I don't wanna make this too hard  
But I just wanna be where you are  
In your life, by your side, forever_

Natsuki didn't know where she found the courage to seek her out but she did. She stood outside of the council room and waited for everyone to leave. She knew Shizuru always left last, ensuring that nothing was left behind or some files left forgotten.

She took deep breaths. She can do this. She closed her eyes and willed herself to relax.

"Natsuki?" her soft accented voice startled her.

Natsuki opened her eyes to see Shizuru's amethyst eyes looking at her with concern. She felt her heart flutter looking into those eyes of hers. She still cared.

"Shizuru." Was all she could say. She had rehearsed earlier that day what to say to her but for the life of her she couldn't remember it now.

Shizuru smiled warmly at her though it didn't reach her eyes. "I hope you came here to see me." she teased.

And just like that it felt like they were back into their old routine. The glint of amusement in her eyes at seeing her fluster made Natsuki feel pleasant. It felt as though the six months that they didn't have contact didn't exist.

"I..." She wanted to protest, like before when she used to tease her like this. But was quickly cut off by **her** arrival.

"OY! Fujino, you ready?" **she** asked the Kyoto woman, ignoring Natsuki's presence. **She** did spare a glance towards Natsuki but that was it. **She** waited for Shizuru impatiently and had no qualms at showing it as **she** tapped her foot and frowned at the Kyoto woman.

"I'm sorry Natsuki but I have to go. I had promised to accompany **her** today but if it's really important please let me know or call me tonight. You still have my number right?" Shizuru replied to Natsuki as she excused herself.

Natsuki could only dumbly nod. Not really listening to Shizuru's explanation. Too shock to even coherently respond. There was a time where Shizuru would brush off whatever she was doing in favour of her company but that was before. Natsuki felt stupid that she had forgotten how much she and Shizuru had drifted away.

"I'll speak to you later ok?" and with that Shizuru left with **her**.

Natsuki couldn't help but gaze at their retreating backs as they both walked so close to each other. Another wave of pain washed over her as she clutched her chest.

Only silent tears bore witness to Natsuki's agony-filled heart.

_I cried myself to sleep last night  
When I woke up  
There were tear stains on my pillow  
It hurt so much to sacrifice what I gave up  
Without you in my life  
I will always feel lonely_

That's when Natsuki knew she loved Shizuru. She was just too blind to see it. And now that she has, she will fight for it. The question that now plagues Natsuki's mind was if Shizuru still felt the same. If it was too late for them.

"Shizuru..." Natsuki whispered by the windowsill, under the starry night and bright rays of the full moon. Hoping against all hope that somehow, someway, Shizuru could hear or at least feel her heart's cries.

_Loosing the love_

_From someone like you_

* * *

TBC?

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

I hope you enjoyed reading this little idea of mine. Please review and please leave constructive criticism. If anyone would like to volunteer as a beta-reader it would really be appreciated.

A little thanks go to **NatsuHime** for correcting me about Shizuru's last name and for **Hoppy-chan** for graciously volunteering to beta this story. Thank you very much. I have posted the edited version.

So can anyone guess who the mystery person is?

Should I leave the story the way it is or would you like me to add to it?

Please review. Your reviews to me are like what Mayonaise are for Natsuki.

Hope you like it.

**Ja Ne**


	2. Need to Know

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**_

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is pre-read and edited by **Hoppy-Chan**. Thank you very much.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai Hime so my knowledge of Mai Hime is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

**The Setting: **This story takes place six months after the HiME Carnival but before the graduation. So **AU and OOC is to be expected**. You have been dutifully warned.

_Italics_ means thoughts

* * *

**_Author's Pre-notes:_**

Many thanks to all that reviewed. You have no idea how much it was really greatly appreciated and how hard it was for me to stop myself from replying back. Why you ask? It's simple really because it would ruin the surprise for this chapter update. ('',)

Thanks again for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

* * *

xxxxxxx

* * *

Natsuki thought of every best possible way to get through to Shizuru. To be able to approach her without being tongue-tied or even worse, being interrupted by her. But her efforts were in vain. It was as if Shizuru knew what she was planning and was deliberately ditching her in advance or always irrevocably busy. But that couldn't be, could it? Back then, Shizuru always made time for her no matter how busy or hectic her schedule was.

"_Could it really be that the time we spent apart really changed her?_" Natsuki shuddered at the thought.

Shizuru never did call her back like she said she would, but then again she never called her either. It was a vicious cycle that never seemed to end. If she really wanted to do things right she would have to eliminate the problem first. She had to confront the obstacle.

* * *

Natsuki searched high and low for her quarry. She should have known that she would have difficulty tracking her down. Even though she detested her method, she had to put herself in her place.

"If I was her, where would I be right now?" Natsuki asked no one but herself. She tried to fight the urge of answering her own question with sarcastic and derogatory remarks. Something along the lines of "_Look at me! Look at me! I'm a nymphomaniac that likes to tie up people for fun!_" kept barging in her mind. She shook her head. She had to stay focused.

Finally an idea hit her. She tried to pin her personality down, deciding to break down her quarry's habits. She wasn't known to be social and rather liked being by herself. She's quite anti-social and detested staying at one place at one time.

As Natsuki began to break down her opponents psyche, she discovered that they weren't that different from her own.

"Is that why you like to be with her Shizuru?" She asked herself aloud as though Shizuru herself was standing in front of her. Shaking herself once again from these thoughts, she figured out where she could find her.

* * *

**_At the forest near the academy..._**

Natsuki found herself back to the place where they first had confronted each other. She felt bad about jumping in headfirst and attacking her without first asking questions or even proving her guilty. But that was a long time ago. Surely she had gotten over it.

She found her there perched on the tree branch, playing a tune with the use of a leaf. She looked peaceful and calm. It was almost a shame to interrupt her but there were matters that they need to address. Questions she needed to ask and have answered. She made her presence known.

"Nao." She called out tentatively.

The red head ceased what she was doing and looked down from her perch. "Kuga," she responded, acknowledging her presence. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Why aren't you in class?" there were many questions that assaulted Natsuki's mind but that was the first thing she had blurted out.

"The same reason why you aren't." Nao answered as she grinned as she watched the azure haired beauty start to get annoyed.

"No it's not!" Natsuki blurted out. She wasn't in class because she was searching for her. Nao was out of class for some unknown reason other than ditching it.

Nao merely laughed as she jumped out of her perch.

"So what exactly do you want Kuga? I doubt it was only to have a nice and quiet stroll down memory lane." Nao questioned as she stood in front of Natsuki.

Natsuki fumbled a bit. Now that she has finally found her, she didn't know where to start asking her questions. Words don't really come to mind at the moment as her emotions began to play and distant memories began to resurface, jumbling any coherent thought.

"Shizuru." Natsuki softly replied but her other words seemed to have been caught in her throat. Somehow, with just saying her name, it sounded like both a question and answer. She damned herself once again for being socially inept.

Nao on the other hand raised an eyebrow. "What about her? Shouldn't you be talking to her then?" She asked as she crossed her arms against her chest in a defensive stance.

Natsuki shook her head. "No. It's not like that... What I mean is... Why are you with her?"

Nao's eyebrow rose higher at Natsuki's question. "What is it to you?"

"Damn it Nao! Just answer the freaking question! And stop answering a question with a question!" Natsuki snapped.

"But it's a very valid question is it not Kuga?" Nao replied back not loosing her cool. It is a very valid question. Why would it bother the other girl if she spent time with Fujino Shizuru?

She then began to circle Natsuki. "Could it be that you're jealous?" She grinned slyly, knowing exactly which buttons to push to rile up the other girl.

Natsuki tried to reign in her temper. She should have known she wouldn't be able to have a civil conversation with the wayward red head. She just provokes her too much.

Nao grinned widely, relishing the effect she was having on Natsuki. "You really want to know?" She teased. She was amused with Natsuki's impotent rage as she struggled to reign in her temper, watching her shake uncontrollably.

Natsuki didn't trust herself to speak for the fear of loosing her ire and simply nodded her head, shaking uncontrollably from trying to restrain herself.

Nao looked her straight in the eyes. Her aquamarine eyes meeting emerald ones. Not losing her smile she savoured every word.

"I'm not with Fujino." she watched her eyes sigh in relief before twisting the proverbial knife. "Shizuru's with me." That gave her the reaction she wanted.

She watched as her emerald eyes widen in surprise as a tumult of emotions flashed through them. Shizuru was right; the girl didn't know how to keep her emotions in check. She was like an open book, so easy to read.

Natsuki's hands unconsciously turned into fists. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act so innocent Kuga. You know exactly what I mean." She replied before turning away, tired of their conversation.

"I'm not the one trailing after her, she's trailing after me." Nao continued, not looking back at her. "That is what you came here for isn't it? To find out?" She raised the leaf back to her lips, her back still facing Natsuki.

Nao didn't want to admit it but that wasn't exactly the whole truth. There are times that Fujino Shizuru did seek her company, but she did too. It seemed she had grown fond of the Kyoto woman. Not like she was going to admit it to Natsuki any time soon.

"Stay away from her." Natsuki warned with enough venom in her voice to carry out her threat. Somehow the answer Nao gave her frightened and angered her. A huge amount of rage filled her as she narrowed her eyes into slits. She didn't trust Nao. She didn't trust her near Shizuru. Nao was up to something, Natsuki could feel it.

"Or you'll what Kuga?" Nao laughed acidly as she turned around to face Natsuki. "You'll attack me? Hurt me? Go ahead. I'd like to see you try." with every point she made, she stepped closer to the other girl's personal space, goading her to follow through with her threat.

Natsuki could swear her knuckles were now white and was dying to connect with the red head's face. She felt her hands itching to swipe that smirk off Nao's face, which was now too close for her liking.

For a moment, they stood there in silence. Eyes clashing against each other, daring each other to move. Natsuki closed her eyes trying to calm herself down which Nao interpreted as Natsuki backing off.

"I didn't think so." Nao once again smirked. "What ever would your precious Fujino say when I tell her that you just threatened me?"

Natsuki froze.

Natsuki hated to admit that Nao was right, she hated how she immediately pictured a very disappointed Kyoto woman looking down at her. It was bad enough that they were no longer close, but to actually make that invisible gap wider...the invisible wall stronger.

Suddenly a new image entered her mind. It was Shizuru getting further and further away and out of her reach.

Nao couldn't resist but taunt her even further. "How does it feel to have the shoe on the other foot?" she laughed before walking away from Natsuki, leaving her with her thoughts.

Natsuki couldn't do anything as she watched Nao walk away from her. She wanted so badly to retort. But with what? What could she say? She wasn't exactly sure if Shizuru would choose her side of the story or would even support her. There was just too much time that came between them coupled by their unresolved issues. She wasn't even sure if Shizuru would stand up for her anymore. It was Nao's words against hers. But Nao's parting words haunted her.

_What did Nao mean?_

She came to her to find answers only to get more questions in return. Why was Nao being deliberately obtuse? Did Nao really enjoy torturing her that much?

* * *

**_Meanwhile..._**

****

A certain red head was also plagued with questions.

"So you finally decided to step up, Kuga?" Nao said to no one but herself. She had to admit she had been expecting their little confrontation for sometime now, but it had taken a while.

Nao couldn't help be amused by her rival's indecision. "It took you this long to realize how you feel?" She wanted nothing more than to laugh aloud, but settled for chuckling to herself instead while shaking her head. "Kuga you really are an idiot."

She was too engrossed with her thoughts as she walked back towards the school grounds. She was enjoying her day so far and enjoyed the little verbal skirmish she exchanged with Kuga Natsuki. It really was amusing messing with the older girl; it was just way too easy. She was thinking about the words she exchanged with Natsuki and why she had said what she did.

She wasn't normally vindictive. In fact, she owed Natsuki for saving her from Shizuru's wrath when Shizuru had defeated her child Julia. But then again it was her fault why she snapped in the first place, both for her part and Shizuru's. She was interrupted from her reverie when she caught a glimpse of Fujino Shizuru surrounded by her fan club, all eager to walk her towards the student council room.

Nao smiled a sincere smile. Back then, she wouldn't even put up a fight with Kuga Natsuki. She would be more than willing to offer the Kyoto woman to her emotionally troubled rival, even going as far as serving Shizuru in a silver platter for Natsuki's personal enjoyment but that was then. It was completely different now.

It was as if Shizuru sensed her watching her and turned around and gave her a little smile as she walked passed. It wasn't the smile she usually gave to her admirers. It was an honest and sincere smile no matter how small or short it might have been. Nao was sure those smiles where reserved for only a small amount of people. She knew how to tell the difference.

Nao knew Shizuru has many different smiles. She had experienced almost all of them. The fake ones she used to get before and during the HiME fiasco. The ones that really frightened the living day lights out of her since she never really knew what was lurking behind that well placed smile of hers. And then there were the ones that she just received.

Nao gave her a little grin of her own.

Shizuru simply gave her small and subtle bow as she continued on her way followed closely by her admirers. Nao watched her walk away. Shizuru's smile had always had some kind of effect on her. They were completely different now. They weren't scary or intimidating at all. It was a smile that brightens up your day, a smile that says she'll be there when you need her. A smile that wouldn't let you down. It was reassuring and comforting at the same time.

"It's totally different now." Nao whispered to herself and she'll be damned if she let Kuga Natsuki know why.

* * *

TBC?

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

Hope you like the latest update. Congratulations to the people that guessed right!

Thanks to all that reviewed, because of your reviews I was actually able to write the next two chapters without much difficulty but that doesn't mean it was nicely or well written. Lol. It only means I have to read through it to make sure it makes sense. Anyone who is still interested in becoming a beta-reader please contact me.

This story was actually suppose to be a one shot story idea but diverges to other stories, for example: the prologue was meant to be in Natsuki's point of view. The second story I was going to put up was about Yuuki Nao's point of view and then lastly Fujino Shizuru. But I thought perhaps combining it into one whole story would be more ideal. It would mean that I need to alter the plot a bit to make everything have sense and have a decent conclusion.

I know this update was short but the next one is really lengthy so it will make up for this one.

So did you readers enjoy reading this so far? Should I stop or continue?

Please review and if you have to criticise please make it constructive. I don't mind having corrections in the review as long as you tell me if you liked it or not. ('',)

So please review. Your reviews to me are like what Mayonaise are for Natsuki.

**Ja Ne**


	3. Realization & Forgiveness

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

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_**Disclaimer:**_

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **Hoppy-Chan**. Thank you very much.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

**The Setting: **This story takes place six months after the HiME Carnival but before the graduation. So **AU and OOC is to be expected**. You have been dutifully warned.

_Italics_ means thoughts

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**_Author's Pre-Notes:_**

Many thanks to the people who had reviewed, it was really appreciated. As mentioned in my previous author's note from the last chapter, this story was originally a oneshot story that diverges to other stories mainly featuring the character's point of view which I decided to just combine into one story.

The first chapter was Natsuki's as all of you guessed or have worked out, this chapter is now about her rival and a little look at Nao's character from my point of view. Please check out my author's notes at the very end for more explanation, other than this I hope you enjoy reading this update.

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xxxxxxx

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Nao enjoyed lazing about the Kyoto woman's bed as she read her magazine. She was currently at Fujino Shizuru's home away from home. Her apartment, more precisely her bedroom. Her bed was always comfortable and so soft. She had gotten Shizuru's consent and was free to drop by her place anytime she chose. At the moment, she decided to skip one of her more boring classes and seek refuge in Shizuru's room.

She was lying on her stomach and her feet were in the air swinging idly. She was engrossed with her reading one of the many magazines and pocket books that had accumulated in Shizuru's room after lending them to her when Shizuru displayed her curiosity about her reading preferences. At the moment, she was too engrossed reading one of Shizuru's collection of shoujo manga that she didn't realise Shizuru had come in.

"Ara?" The Kyoto woman uttered. Shizuru had been long used to Nao's presence and wasn't really surprised to find the red haired underclassman, rather just a little taken aback that she will be there when she distinctively knew that Nao was meant to be in class. "There seems to be a cute junior in my bed. What ever shall I, the naïve kaichou-sama to do in such a situation?"

Nao merely grinned at Shizuru's taunting and rolled onto her back. "You could always ravage poor little ol' me kaichou-sama." Nao replied back waiting for Shizuru's reaction.

"That does sound rather appealing." Shizuru replied as she slowly approached the bed and kept her eyes at her.

Nao couldn't help but feel a little excited as well as being a little nervous at Shizuru's response and tried to hide her reaction but wasn't really successful. She involuntarily shivered.

Shizuru grinned at Nao's reaction as she slowly approached her like a panther stalking its prey, when she saw that Nao had involuntarily closed her eyes, Shizuru sat beside her and lay down on the bed. Eyes closed with an impish smile adorning her beautiful face. "But I'd rather sleep for now."

Nao couldn't help but blush. She had thought Shizuru was going to kiss her, only to feel the bed shift and see the mischievous Kyoto woman lying down beside her. She was annoyed that Shizuru made her think those thoughts. She rolled to her side, eager to reprimand the other woman with a few choice words when her breath caught at the sight of her beautiful form.

Shizuru looked like an angel. There was no doubt about it. Her red lips, her smooth ivory skin and her chestnut hair sprawled on the bed made her look so enticing. It was such a crime for having a beauty such as hers be left alone unappreciated.

Nao could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, her breathing becoming more erratic. The loud pounding in her ears were deafening. The urge to run her hands upon her hair and trail over her skin was making her stomach churn with both dread and anticipation.

"Didn't anybody tell Nao-san that it is rude to stare? Especially at a defenseless woman?" Shizuru commented as she lifted one eye open, smirking when she caught Nao fluster even more.

Nao abruptly sat up. "You, defenseless?" Nao scoffed. "As if."

Shizuru merely smiled. "I'd love to continue on with our little conversation but I am tired. There was a lot of work to be organised and done." Shizuru explained as she yawned. Not to mention Haruka's protest was the only thing that kept her awake during the meeting. She was glad that they managed to end the meeting early and had given her time to seek her much needed rest.

Nao merely continued to ignore the Kyoto woman. She had lost against her yet again, she had managed to make her fluster first. She felt the bed shift once more, indicating that Shizuru had moved.

Nao turned around only to witness Shizuru's angelic form now properly settled on the bed. Nao knew that this was her cue to leave and let Shizuru have her rest, but looking at her relaxed formed made her freeze.

A frown creased her forehead contemplating what to do when she heard her voice once more, as if she sensed her indecision.

"You don't have to go." Shizuru softly whispered not opening her eyes. "You can stay."

Nao merely frowned at Shizuru.

"I really don't mind." Shizuru sighed, still not opening her eyes.

Nao contemplated Shizuru's offer. She really didn't feel like going, but she didn't want to inconvenience the other girl if she wanted to rest. By the time she had made her decision, she realised that the other girl had already fallen asleep.

Nao watched as Shizuru's chest rose and fell with each deep breath. Her eyes began to wander to her beautiful face and once again found herself entranced by her graceful beauty.

Nao didn't know how it happened or perhaps she did, the day she found herself attracted to Fujino Shizuru.

It wasn't hard for anybody to admire the Kyoto woman. With her perfect visage and almost too perfect personality, it was hard not to feel a little bit entranced by her. But it wasn't any of those superficial things that attracted Nao to Shizuru. She knew better than the many fan girls and fan boys that stalked and continually pursues her.

She knew first hand that the woman lying beside her was far from perfect. She had stained her dainty hands with blood and succumbed into madness all for the sake of one person who was even more pathetic in not realising her feelings more.

Nao saw the madness and passion in her eyes as they fought against each other as she struggled to defeat her. The raw strength and power that Shizuru wielded and the grace she had executed all for the sake of that stupid Kuga, stirred something within her. She would never admit it but she respected the other woman in battle which only aroused her curiosity more.

Nao had never seen such dedication or passion in anyone's eyes before and she found herself entranced. She found herself wondering if she will ever find someone who would be as passionate and devoted to her the way Fujino Shizuru was to Kuga Natsuki.

Nao smiled bitterly. She knew why Shizuru was with her. Sought her companionship above Natsuki's. She knew they had a falling out. Natsuki had admitted to Shizuru about her feelings and Shizuru of course respected Natsuki's feelings and decided to distance herself away. Pathetic really. But what another person's loss is another person's gain and who was she to turn away such gifts? Especially one as beautifully packaged as the Kyoto woman?

Nao reached out and gently caressed Shizuru's cheek, tucking away any strands of her hair that will obstruct her view, smiling faintly as she did so.

She knew Shizuru regretted her actions during the Carnival and was trying to repent for her sins, and what better way than to seek for forgiveness by asking the very people she had wronged?

She knew the first apology she had received from Yukino wasn't as sincere as the second one. She knew that Shizuru still viewed herself in the right at that moment. They wanted to harm her most precious person, so it was only natural for her to retaliate. But given time, Shizuru did realise that she reacted a little too harshly and asked for forgiveness the second time.

Nao wasn't sure what Shizuru did to acquire Yukino's forgiveness since she was sure that Yukino was afraid of her, but it seemed that the shy girl did forgive her. The way the three (Shizuru, Haruka and Yukino) were able to get back to their normal social banter (mostly consisting of Haruka once again berating and chastising Shizuru but with less malice) was proof that they had put their past behind them.

It was different in her case. She didn't even know that Shizuru paid for all her mother's medical expenses until it was time for her to pay for the hospital bills. At first Nao was furious and outraged. How dare this woman undermine her? She was perfectly capable of taking care of her mother. She didn't need Fujino's help.

She had confronted Shizuru then. So blinded with rage that she completely forgot that the very person she was yelling at was the same person that defeated her not only once but twice!

She remembered Shizuru merely watched her in mild amusement as she sipped her tea calmly which only fuelled her anger a lot more.

* * *

**_Flashback…_**

"Did anyone ever tell you Nao-san that you look adorable when mad?" She replied back.

That made Nao stop from her anger induced rants of expletives. "WHAT?!!"

"You look so cute when you're all rattled up."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Shizuru merely giggled.

"Idiot."

"You remind me a lot like her you know." She finally said in a soft whisper. Nao was sure Shizuru was not meant to state that thought aloud, especially to her.

"I'M NOT ANYTHING LIKE HER!" Nao protested as she narrowed her eyes against her. Quite insulted to be compared with her supposed-to-be rival but a little intrigued as to why she would even bring it up.

"Yes I know. I told her the same thing too." Shizuru said sadly as she averted her eyes and paid attention to the cup of tea she was nursing.

This made Nao stop speaking to observe her more. It was common knowledge that the two were no longer hanging out with one another. She didn't care either way, as long as they were miserable that was fine by her. She really didn't hold any candle for either of them and why would she?

During the whole carnival, she was attacked by that bull headed Kuga for no reason at all, it was only when the whole event was finished that Sister Yukariko had confessed about her part of the HiME Fiasco and cleared Nao's name. But by then it was already too late, a seed of resentment had already been planted deep within her. She would never admit how hurt she was that the HiME sentai that were named by Midori who prided themselves as a team and family would automatically blame her for that little incident. It only proved her theory that the students of Fuuka don't look past a person's reputation to see the real them.

Nao lowered her head slightly, trying to calm herself down as more images of the past began to assail her, sending her emotions into chaos. Her red hair began to frame her face effectively shielding her from the other woman's scrutiny.

Did anyone bother to ask her how she felt about the whole misunderstanding? No. So why should she be concerned about the two who made her lose control of her tightly reigned emotions?

"In any case, I do apologise if I made you feel angry. I only did what I did to repent for the sin that I have done to you."

"I don't need you help." Nao replied tersely. She was fine on her own. She didn't want to owe anyone anything, especially the woman who was sitting before her drinking her damned tea.

"I know that." she replied, not even bothered by her terse reply.

"Then why?" Now Nao had to admit being curious. Fujino Shizuru was a cunning woman, what devious plans were running through that pretty little head of hers? Was she playing with her since she no longer has Kuga to play with?

"I know that you still go out during the dark hours of the night to pay for your mother's expenses." Shizuru said casually as she sipped her tea.

Nao couldn't speak nor deny the truth. Shizuru continued.

"It's only a matter of time now before you get caught. You no longer have your HiME powers. Tell me, how long will you be able to rely on pure luck when handling the guys you rob or be caught by the police or even worse?" Shizuru asked her straight in the eyes.

Nao knew she was right. It was only a matter of time until she got caught. Or even worse, the last victim she had actually managed to land a hit on her, she was lucky that she managed to get away.

"This is none of your concern." Nao replied as she looked away. She had continued her nightly ritual even without her HiME powers. She knew it was risky since she can no longer effectively defend herself if her victim was to retaliate, but she needed to pay for the hospital bills as well as her daily needs.

Being by yourself wasn't cheap. While Mashiro had her accommodations and studies covered, she still had to deal with other bills such as food, clothing etc. She hated to admit the reason why she wasn't close to her roommate Aoi was because she was jealous of her, of all the students as a matter of fact. Most especially Kuga Natsuki.

The other students have little to no idea how hard it was to fend for yourself, to only have yourself to rely on. They go on with their merry lives oblivious to the hardships she had endured. She hated Kuga Natsuki most of all for she was in the same boat as her.

Natsuki was basically an orphan, much like herself but Natsuki had her inheritance to live off with. She had a living relative, an estranged father or so she heard from the gossip grapevine while she had no one. Only a comatose mother. Why should Kuga be so privileged while she was left on her own?

"I know it doesn't. I am simply repaying my debt." Shizuru's smooth Kyoto accent snapped her from her depressing reverie.

Nao looked at the woman before her, trying to gauge out her real intention and motives but Shizuru had too much experience and was well rehearsed in keeping her features neutral. Those beautiful and haunting amethyst eyes of hers revealed nothing from their owner. With nothing left to say, Nao decided to simply walk away, but something made her stop.

There was something tangible in the way the Kyoto woman expressed her words. As though this woman was showing care for her, but it couldn't be could it? It was only her guilty conscience that urged her to help her right? Yet Nao couldn't make another step further away from the woman that was causing her system to go hay-wire.

Before Nao could actually give any coherent thought about the subject, her mouth moved on its own accord. "Would you like to see her?" She half whispered.

"I'm sorry?" Shizuru asked. Not sure she heard the feisty red head right.

"Would you like to visit my mother with me?" Nao asked, her voice soft. She was still unsure what prompted her to blurt out such a ridiculous notion. There was an odd determination in her voice, daring Shizuru to accept. She rationalised that If Shizuru was serious about helping her mother then perhaps introducing them to one another would be a good idea.

Shizuru would see first hand what type of damage she had caused her when she had destroyed her child Julia as well as give her a taste of her own little payback. If Shizuru thought she was feeling guilty now, wait till Shizuru met her mother.

Nao bit her lower lip at her last thought. Using her own mother's condition as a means of revenge for this woman made her feel so low. Lower than dirt. Her mother has always been kind and gentle, she never harmed a living soul and was always thoughtful about other people's feelings. That's why it was so hard for Nao to accept how the people her mother helped could just turn their backs from them when they needed their support the most. Her mother's kind gestures were not returned, instead she lay in that cold hospital room all alone with her as her only company.

Nao couldn't do something like this no matter how jaded, resentful and callous she had become over time. She would not use her mother, but it was already too late to take back her offer, her only hope was that the other woman would refuse.

Shizuru stayed quiet for some time, contemplating Nao's offer. Probably wondering exactly the same question that urged Nao to make such an offer.

After a brief silence between them that seemed like an eternity to Nao, Shizuru finally spoke.

"I would like that, thank you."

Nao didn't even turn around as she left the council room. Wondering why in the world she even asked the Kyoto woman, who at one time didn't even care even the slightest bit about her.

* * *

**Back at the present…**

Nao smiled as she remembered more of the events that followed and how the woman before her had changed her life, more than she could possibly understand.

* * *

**Return to Flashback…**

Nao had to keep her nervousness to herself as she looked at her companion. She had never brought anyone to visit her mother before and was trying to gauge out the stoic Kyoto woman's reaction with little success.

She was used to the hospital's cold atmosphere. She was long immune to the white walls, aseptic smell of disinfectants and melancholy feeling of walking through the quiet corridors that led to her mother's room. She could tentatively feel that her companion was feeling a bit uncomfortable which made her feel amused and a little better at her reaction.

Not far from her mother's room she had bumped into one of the nurses who was in charge of her mother's care and decided to make idle chit-chat about her mother's progress. She was aware that Shizuru was uncomfortable but ignored her. She did however notice that the nurse gave her a warm smile when she had caught sight of her companion and even encouraged Nao to bring her friends along to visit her mother.

Nao knew that the nurses and doctors were concerned about her. Every time she had time to spare she was in the hospital and watching over her mother, sometimes even sleeping there, and only went back when she was sent home. She smiled at the nurses and proceeded to her mother's room.

-----------

The blinds were half-closed and the room itself was encased in dim lighting. Lying still on the bed was Nao's mother. Her deep breathing could be heard, supported by various machines attached to her to monitor her progress. There were bandages that covered more than half of her body, a sight that Nao had eventually become used to.

Shizuru tried to pry her eyes away at the pitiful form of Nao's mother. Nao could see the guilt written on her face. Nao thought that seeing the other girl suffer would make her feel better, instead it made her feel worst though she didn't know why.

Nao decided to just dismiss her feelings and decided to act what she always does when visiting her mother. Her entire demeanor changed as she brightly spoke to her unconscious mother.

"Hi mama. I hope you don't mind but I brought someone with me today." Nao announced as she looked at Shizuru's direction. She didn't care what Fujino thought of her at that moment. She will act like she normally does no matter how silly it looked to her companion. She had often heard that coma patients could still hear what goes on around them, and Nao would like to think it's true. That is why she needed to be strong for her mother and herself.

She saw Shizuru frown a little as though she was struggling internally about something, but finally changed her demeanor as well.

"Hello Mrs. Yuuki. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Shizuru bowed at the prone woman. An action that caused Nao's surprise but hid it well.

"Mama doesn't mind. I think she would actually like more people to come and visit her." Nao answered for her as she took a seat next to her mother and held her hand. "Mama, Nurse Joy was just talking to me just then and she told me that your doing quite well, You remember nurse Joy right? The one with the brunette hair? She's getting married by the end of the year. Isn't it great?" Nao asked her prone mother as she squeezed her hand slightly. She now ignored Shizuru's presence. For all she knew the Kyoto woman was merely humouring her or perhaps mocking her. Something that she really didn't need right now.

She watched her mother's form and couldn't help but let depression take over her. The many hardships she'd endured until that moment always plagued her whenever she came to visit. Anger, resentment and hate always ate at her mind thinking of the men that caused her mother to become like this. She had unconsciously begun to shake. She was going to break down and cry again.

She was surprised, however, when she felt a reassuring squeeze upon her shoulder. She turned around and was even more surprised to see Shizuru behind her, her eyes full of honest concern that made her feel warm and began to take all those negative thoughts she was having just now go away.

She gazed up at her, their eyes locking against each other. Their eyes communicating with not a single word exchanged, but it was enough to simply comfort Nao.

"You'll be so proud of your daughter Mrs. Yuuki. Nao-san has helped many of our students deal with many problems at school giving them sage advice." Shizuru informed the unconscious woman as she began to tell Nao's mother about Nao's progress in school with so much pride, making Nao feel that for once she was not alone.

Shizuru continued informing her mother how she admired Nao for her resilience and independence.

The gesture Shizuru was doing was making Nao's feeling soar, that Shizuru was making Nao's mother proud of her despite the many undesirable things she had done.

Nao fought the tears that welled in her eyes. She didn't want to look weak in front of Fujino, yet Shizuru's gesture touched her. No one has genuinely been nice to her before, other than Minagi Mikoto. It was at that moment that Nao unconsciously put a grain of trust in Shizuru.

**_End Flashback…_**

* * *

As the weeks passed, Shizuru's continuous support broke down the invisible wall that Nao had built around herself. The woman was just too nice to be sent away. All her previous fears about Shizuru slowly vanished as Shizuru continued to support her in little ways without trying to do so.

At first she just wanted to get even with Shizuru and Natsuki but over time, she couldn't even think of any ill will towards Shizuru. Her resentment towards her slowly vanished as Shizuru continued to spend time with her and helped her, slowly gaining her trust and her friendship.

It was the little things she did, like lending her some of her old notes, helping her out with her homework, inviting her to eat out and most of all accompanying her to the hospital, made her grow fonder of Shizuru. Nao soon felt that the whole HiME carnival fiasco was just a horrible nightmare, as though it didn't even happen. Everything just felt a little brighter now that she had Fujino Shizuru.

She didn't notice that she had begun seeking out the Kyoto woman's company. She was just easy going and a lot of fun to begin with. Their teases and taunts never failed to make her smile or laugh since both of them were determined to make the other blush first.

The gentle smile that Shizuru always bestowed on her or the massive grin Shizuru gave her when she accomplished her work and received a good mark made Nao's feelings soar. No one had really showed any concern about her wellbeing, nor showed how proud they were about her. Only the nurses at the hospital who took care of her mother bestowed the attention she craved from her incapacitated mother.

She knew her mother would be proud of her accomplishments, but hearing words of appreciation and gesture were different. She felt happy whenever she was around the Kyoto woman. It wasn't long until she found herself outside her doorstep one night when she felt her world was falling apart or when her depression hit her. She had no one to turn to and was surprised that she had found herself seeking her comfort.

Shizuru welcomed her in. Welcomed her with open arms, and it filled her with warmth and comfort she needed. She now understood why Mikoto constantly hung out with Mai now, to think that the naïve and innocent Mikoto would actually teach her something for a change gave her a completely different perspective on life. Not that she would act anything like Mikoto anytime soon, though the idea was quite tempting.

It surprised her that it had already been six months since the carnival incident. She wouldn't have ever thought that she would be on such good terms with Shizuru, she had expected to get along with Kuga more since she was sure they were quite similar.

They both didn't trust people too easily since they grew up alone and had relied on no one else but themselves. They both felt the harsh reality of the world at an early age and had had to fend for themselves. They both harboured deep seeded resentment towards the people who had wronged them. And yet there was Fujino Shizuru.

Shizuru had the capacity of making you feel like you're the most special person in the whole world, and Nao couldn't help but think how stupid Natsuki was for ever letting go of someone so precious.

But she wasn't oblivious to Shizuru's feelings. She knew deep down the Kyoto woman still missed the azure headed-girl's company. If there was something that Nao hated, it was to admit that Natsuki had been right about one thing. They were the same.

It was probably those very same similarities that drew the Kyoto woman to her, and now plagued her with doubts. Was she a substitute for Natsuki's absence? Was she a substitute for Natsuki's company?

Nao couldn't help but hear Natsuki's words echo in her mind. The words she had said long ago to defend her from Shizuru's blade and imminent demise.

"_Nao and I are similar…"_

"Indeed we are…" Nao had to admit to herself, for she too had fallen to the Kyoto woman's charms. She continued to watch over the angel before her, whom she had at one time thought was the very devil herself.

"We might be similar Kuga but unlike you, I would never let Shizuru go..." Nao whispered to herself.

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TBC

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**_Author's Notes:_**

Well I hope you liked the latest update so far. Like I said in the last chapter, this chapter is quite longer since I want to explore Nao's character more and explain why she's attracted to our favourite Kyoto woman.

To be honest, I don't view Nao's nightly activities shown in the Anime as just a hobby or something she does to amuse herself. The little flashback of her mother's comatose form in episode 24 gave me the idea that perhaps the reason for her nightly activities was so that she could take care of herself and her mother. It would certainly explain alot about the reason behind all those cellphones she acquired as well as explaining her aloof personality.

Thanks to **Lone Wolf Biker** and **m anonymous** for pointing out that Nao's mother is revived and awake. I did rewatch episode 26 and was shocked to find out that she is indeed awake. But the scene was too short, that's probably why I didn't notice her.

But for the sake of this story, let's all assume she didn't get better until well after? ; (or else I have to re-write this chapter, please I beg of you, don't make me re-write this chapter!!!)

Well I hope you liked it so far. I will now edit Shizuru's point of view to fit in the plot and how she views Natsuki and Nao.

Also, I won't be around for awhile since I have to prepare for my upcoming exams.

So please review. Your reviews to me are like what Mayonaise are for Natsuki.

**Ja Ne**


	4. The Road to Redemption

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

_

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_

**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **Hoppy-Chan**. Thank you very much.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

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**xxxxxxx**

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Shizuru watched Natsuki silently far across the distance. It had been almost half a year since the Festival and the ill-fated Carnival that followed straight after. Funnily enough, everything seemed surreal, like nothing happened. The HiMEs involved in the fiasco went on with their lives as though nothing had happened. Pretending nothing happened, for dwelling on such things were just a painful reminder of how, for a brief moment, they lost themselves into madness to save their most precious people.

Forgive and forget.

Those are the best words to describe to what had happened to them, and that's exactly how they acted. But Fujino Shizuru wasn't like the rest. Unlike the rest of the HiMEs, she cannot forget nor can she deny the actions she had performed. She had sullied her hands, stained them with blood. Blood that will never be erased from her mind, neither could she forget the screams she had evoked in the First District while she destroyed the city. She knew exactly what she was doing back then. No matter how much Natsuki and the others had reassured her that all of them were under the influence of the Obsidian Lord or the red star. She cannot forget the evil she had done, nor the joy she felt knowing she did it all for the sake of Natsuki.

No matter how Shizuru looked at it or how Natsuki had forgiven her for the crimes she committed, she couldn't go back or pretend that the festival never happened. She can see the guilt in Natsuki's eyes every time they were together. Try as she might, Shizuru knew the only way she can move on was to leave Natsuki. But every time she looked into her emerald eyes she lost her soul once again. She couldn't breathe, she can't even move. Her heart aches and craves her more, longing to touch her and hold her when she knew she had to keep her distance.

The sad and brutal truth was she can't bear to think of leaving Natsuki. Thinking about not seeing her beautiful face just sends a thousand bullets through her already battered heart and soul. Even though Natsuki has told her that she doesn't love her the way she loves her, she couldn't help but hope. The kiss Natsuki has given her at the ruined church made her hope, made her heart yearn that one day, someday Natsuki will love her in return.

It's foolish really. There were dozens of individuals, particularly her fan club, who would gladly take Natsuki's place, yet her heart remains stubborn. She knew she had to get away, but how?

Shizuru sighed. "It's damn if I do and damned if I don't," she whispered to herself.

So now she had resorted into something she thought she would never do, yet here she was gazing at her from a distance. She had resorted to avoiding Natsuki. Thankfully, Natsuki has yet to seek her company, which also brought pain to her heart.

It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. She only wanted to move on and pretend nothing has happened like her fellow ex-HiMEs. Wasn't it enough that she was driven to madness and was rejected by her love? Why was fate being cruel to her?

Shizuru admits that her feelings may be deemed unnatural by everyone around her, but when did loving someone become wrong?

While she had distanced herself from Natsuki, it never made the pain and suffering she felt vanish. The only thing that kept her alive was by telling herself that it was better off this way. A mantra she kept telling herself until the pain she felt subsides but never really disappears.

She saw Natsuki come out of her protective shell and had become more sociable. Natsuki had made more friends, attended her classes and according to Sakumizu-sensei; had improved her academics gradually. It only made Shizuru contemplate wether being with Natsuki hindered her social and psychological growth, since it radically improved since she was gone.

A lone tear escaped her crimson eyes.

Shizuru believed that if one day she was really meant to be with Natsuki, she needed to make amends to the people she had wronged. So that when that day comes she will be worthy of Natsuki's love, and that's exactly what she did.

It was hard to repent for your sins, especially when it involved sullying your hands with blood all for the sake of Natsuki.

Shizuru closed her eyes as unwanted images bombarded her mind.

So many lives were lost that day and they continually haunted her 'till this very day. Her nights were filled with haunted memories of the First District's agonising cries while her own laughter pierced her ears. They pleaded for their lives, but she ignored them. They were all sinners. They all wanted to harm her Natsuki. Natsuki who no longer wanted anything to do with her.

Another tear escaped her eyes.

Shizuru told herself that it was enough for her to see Natsuki happy. She watched over her when she thinks she's not looking. Shizuru swore to herself that she will change so that she'll be worthy of Natsuki's love one day. Until then she will repent for the crimes she committed.

But the pain never ceased. She tried. Oh by Kami did she try. She tried to shut her out, tried to ignore Natsuki's existence to make the pain she beared bearable but it seemed to get worse. She was like a drug addict. She promised herself that she could live on as she used to. Exist just like before. Before she met Kuga Natsuki.

But back then, existing had felt hollow. Every day was a numbing sensation of knowing that no matter what you did never mattered for her existence was already pre-determined. She was Fujino Shizuru. Heir of the vast fortune, prestige and elegance that was brought about by her name. She was to be exalted, praised and be placed on a pedestal. To be admired for what she was but not who she is.

To be surrounded and admired by many, but to be cursed to be alone. That was the curse of being a Fujino. No one ever wanted to get to know the real her. The one who enjoyed peace and tranquillity. The one that enjoys reading shoujo manga just like many ordinary girls, who wouldn't mind getting dirty while she rested on the grass on a lazy afternoon. Enjoys verbal sparring, dirty jokes and a tad mischievous, which was quite opposite of what was supposed to be the "real" her.

No one dared to speak to her as though she was a person or treat her as a normal high school girl. She couldn't even talk to anyone from her fan club because of the mass swooning and starry eyed looks she received from them. No one really listened. That is, until she crossed paths with Natsuki that one fine day at the garden.

She saw the same emptiness and loneliness she felt being reflected back to her as she gazed at her form, but there was something else that drew her to Natsuki. Maybe it was the misdirected anger that she was going to inflict on the innocent blossoming flower or perhaps the hardened look in her angry eyes as she spoke to her. Nonetheless, the moment Natsuki turned around and faced her, she knew she had fallen.

The way she spoke, the way she knew who she was and didn't give a damn about her stature had made her fond of her. The more she spent time with her, the more she got to know Natsuki. And the more she got to know Natsuki the more she liked her.

Their friendship blossomed and it made Shizuru's feelings soar.

Shizuru smiled as she thought about the little things she and Natsuki used to do.

They would eat lunch together. Natsuki would try and influence her to eat fast food and heavy loads of mayonnaise while she tried to convince Natsuki to eat a healthier diet. When they went out to go shopping, Natsuki would insist on stopping by the arcade and would only accompany her if she hinted of going to look through lingerie. Natsuki would sulk whenever she couldn't answer a question in her homework but would never ask for her help and would stubbornly brush off her assistance until she finally snapped, and her temper would result into trying to throw her notebook as far as possible as though it was something vile and dangerous.

How Natsuki would fuss over her when she had a cold while trying to brush it off, telling her she'd been stupid to leave her sweater at home, and would try to feed her two-minute ramen later on, insisting it would make her feel better when she knew otherwise.

Shizuru couldn't help but chuckle at these memories.

Natsuki made her feel human. Made her feel alive and looked forward to spending another day in her company, but like many good things it has to come to an end.

She had hurt Natsuki. She tried so hard to protect her, but in the end it was she that had caused Natsuki so much pain. Natsuki didn't deserve that. Natsuki deserved better and until she repaid the crimes she had committed perhaps then, she would be able to face Natsuki once again.

She apologised to both Haruka and Yukino. It was a difficult feat to perform since Haruka didn't trust her around her childhood friend. But Shizuru stood her ground. She had let Haruka vent out her anger. Some of the things Haruka had said did hurt and some made her angry but Shizuru knew that she deserved every word of it. Yukino came to her aide and soothed her best friend's ire.

Yukino understood what Shizuru had gone through. After all, she tried to go after and eliminate Tokiha Mai so that she could protect Haruka. In a way, Yukino understood her for she too harboured affection towards her closest friend. A familiar bond of kinship seemed to have manifested between her and Yukino that day. With Yukino's help, Haruka managed to forgive Shizuru but still remained suspicious of her and kept a watchful eye on her just in case.

And then there was Yuuki Nao.

The red-haired enigma.

The girl that not only threatened her Natsuki once but twice.

Shizuru shook her head in both amusement and dismay.

Nao was a hard learner and most certainly stubborn, but with all the chaos the red star and Obsidian Lord created, perhaps Nao was also a victim of circumstance. Natsuki had, after all, defended the red-head from her when she was yet again blinded by her madness and was about to take her life as payment for daring to harm a single hair upon her Natsuki's head. Intrigued as to why Natsuki would even compare herself to the redhead she decided to look into things and try to see people through the eyes of her beloved Natsuki.

So Shizuru did a little background research on Yuuki Nao. Since the girl was aloof and has no close friends to speak off other than her roommate: Senou Aoi, she decided to interrogate her brunette roommate. But even she didn't know the person she shared her room with when she had questioned her.

Shizuru became even more curious of Yuuki Nao after that. A person who acts so innocent around others when underneath all the pleasantness she displays, she hides a vindictive and deep seeded resentment towards the people she deals with. When she asked her fellow students what their impression was about Yuuki Nao, most would say she was just an ordinary girl, others will then relay rumours of her chastity and her nightly rituals to even more scandalous stories bordering slander.

The enigma revolving around the red head drew her like a moth to a flame. Her curiosity getting the best of her, wanting to solve a mystery that was Yuuki Nao. As she observed Nao she realised that Natsuki was right. There was more depth to her character than she let the others see.

Her research on the red head led her towards Yuuki Nao's mother's circumstance. It was then easier to piece all the pieces of information she had gathered. The late night robberies, the assault and the animosity Nao harbours for other people. She began to understand why such a girl could be so angry, cold and destructive. So without another thought she had spoken to the doctor in charge of Yuuki Nao's mother and asked them of her progress.

It wasn't good.

Because of Mrs Yuuki's condition, most of their money had been used up to pay for her medicine and care. Because the hospital itself was a public hospital and was in need of funds, the doctors where forced to downgrade the level of care associated to Mrs Yuuki. While she still received the care she needed, it wasn't exactly the best. The medications she received where low cost generic brands and she was placed in a normal ward instead of a medium-high dependency ward.

Shizuru made a choice then. She arranged for Mrs Yuuki to be placed in a private single room, and be given the very best of care. The costs will be paid and arranged by her in her account. She knew she probably should have spoken to Nao first, but hearing Mrs Yuuki's progress from the doctor moved her. She looked at the hospital itself and decided that investing in the hospital would help more people, not just the people she had wronged, but the general community as well.

For the first time, Shizuru felt good that she had helped a lot of people and her guilt has slightly decreased. That is until Nao charged into the student council room and began yelling at her for her intervention. Shizuru knew and could understand the reason she was angry but she didn't expect Nao to invite her to visit her mother. She had to admit she was curious at the time as to why she would even ask but she was glad she did.

* * *

_**Flashback…**_

Shizuru didn't know what to expect when she had accompanied the wayward red head to the hospital that day, but had kept silent and merely observed her surroundings.

It was just a typical hospital; white walls, aseptic atmosphere and crowded rooms. She could hear various chatter and children crying. It made her feel uneasy. It wasn't easy the first time she'd come and spoken to Mrs Yuuki's doctor, and it certainly wasn't easy now. The nurses and doctors dashing back and forth, indicating that they had come during a busy hour. What astounded Shizuru, however, was that most nurses who had spare time greeted Nao. It appeared that Nao was known here.

By the time they had entered Mrs Yuuki's room, she felt a little hesitant at not knowing what to expect. The blinds were half-closed and the room was encased in dim lighting. Lying still on the bed was Nao's mother. Her deep breathing could be heard supported by various machines attached to her in order to monitor her progress. There were bandages that covered more than half of her body.

Shizuru tried to pry her eyes away from the pitiful form of Nao's mother, remembering how she had callously defeated Julia without any hesitation, even knowing what the consequences of her actions would be.

Nao, on the other hand, had changed her entire demeanour as she brightly spoke to her unconscious mother. Shizuru pushed down the tumult of emotions that had welled up inside of her as she gazed at Nao's fake expression of cheerfulness in front of her comatose mother. She could feel the pain the red head was going through and it tore her heart apart.

Shizuru felt awkward standing there in the room. It was as though she was interrupting something intimate between the mother and daughter. She saw hope flow through Nao's normally stony eyes and it made her heart ache. At that moment, Nao had the same eyes Natsuki has.

It made Shizuru want to wrap the red head in her arms to make her feel secure, but she didn't. Instead she approached Nao and stood behind her back. She gently put her hands upon Nao's shoulders. Nao seemed to be surprised by her sudden action as she gazed up at her. Nao's aquamarine eyes were full of swirling mixed emotions and unvoiced questions. Shizuru gave her shoulders a soft squeeze to reassure her and then turned her attention towards Nao's mother.

"You'll be so proud of your daughter, Mrs Yuuki. Nao-san has helped many of our students deal with many problems at school giving them sage advice." Shizuru informed the unconscious woman as Nao looked at her with both awe and gratitude.

_**End Flashback…**_

****

****

* * *

Shizuru couldn't understand it, but from then on she found a purpose. She wanted to help Nao. Genuinely help her and guide her to the right path. She gave her all the support she needed. The company and attention she was missing, she also found that she enjoyed spending time with her and in each passing day, her day became more bearable. She still yearned to be with Natsuki, but with Nao's company, the pain and hurt she felt was slowly fading. She also began to notice similarities between her Natsuki and Yuuki Nao.

They were both stubborn creatures, and they let their pride rule them. Both were suspicious of other people and harboured deep-seeded hatred towards those who had wronged them. Most of all, they would never admit needing any help. That was why Shizuru was surprised when Nao had visited her one fateful night.

* * *

Nao looked so lost and all alone. It was the day she found out that her mother had recovered. Instead of happiness, fear had gnawed at Nao's consciousness, worried that her mother would find out about all her misdeeds in the past or would no longer recognise her.

She stood there outside her door as she said this. Her heart was on her sleeve as she poured out all her fears, looking vulnerable as she did so.

"I have nowhere else to go," her aquamarine eyes seemed to say to her as tears began to mar her beautiful features.

Shizuru didn't have the heart to turn her away. Not when she needed someone the most. So she opened her arms to her. The ones that were only reserved to comfort Natsuki and a precious few. She engulfed the redhead in her arms and provided her the warmth and the comfort she needed. She took Nao in and eased her worries. Reassured her of her mother's love and that she would always be there for her whenever she needed someone to talk to.

"OY! SHIZURU!" A familiar voice snapped Shizuru from her reverie. So many things have happened. So many things have changed.

She looked for the source of the call and saw a familiar red head making her way towards her.

"Ara? Nao-san?" Shizuru greeted the red head with a wry grin.

Nao merely looked at her dumbfounded. "Haruka has been looking for you," Nao informed her with her arms across her chest, clearly annoyed that she had to be the one to look for her. In truth she didn't really mind, but the loud blonde ordered her to do it and **_that_** annoyed her.

"Ara? What did Suzushiro-san want?"

Nao merely shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. If you ask me, what she really needs is to get a boyfriend. I swear all that pent up frustration is getting on my nerves!"

"I don't think Kikukawa-san would like your idea though." Shizuru smiled at the redhead's blunt assumption of the Executive Director of the student executive team.

"Psst, who cares! I just want that loud-mouth to shut her trap once in a while," Nao replied before noticing where Shizuru's attention was before she had called.

Not too far away from them was Kuga Natsuki accompanied by her two friends, Minagi Mikoto and Tokiha Mai.

Nao could feel the coils of jealousy lace around her but didn't show it. Even now, Shizuru still craved Kuga Natsuki. "Don't tell me you've been here all this time pining for Kuga?" She acidly remarked.

If Shizuru picked up her snide remark, she made no show of it. Instead, she took this moment to tease the already annoyed redhead. "Jealous?"

Nao wanted nothing more than to scream "_Hell yes!_" but knew she couldn't. There were other ways to answer her question while still maintaining her dignity. She simply raised one eyebrow and matched her teasing tone. "What if I am? What would you do Shizuru?" She bit her lower lip, making her look dejected as though she was a scorned lover asking her for forgiveness, but looking enticing all the same.

Shizuru smiled though it didn't reach her eyes. She was amused by Nao's display but nonetheless intrigued by her choice of words. There was something in the way she said those words and the way she acted. Nao was a very cunning and sly creature and it was always fun to try and find out what she was up to.

The moment Nao saw her smile she knew at once that it was one of her fake smiles. Shizuru didn't want to pursue or continue their conversation any longer but it seemed even she cannot read the Kyoto woman very well for she was surprised by Shizuru's next action.

Shizuru took a step closer to Nao, invading her personal space. She placed her hands on the redhead's waist bringing their bodies closer, their faces nearer. Shizuru smiled as she saw Nao's face flamed up almost immediately and her eyes widen in surprise. And as though she couldn't help herself she leaned even closer to her and brought her lips incredibly closer to her ear.

Nao's heart stopped beating then. She held her breath. She was sure Shizuru would now be able to hear the erratic beating of her heart as it pounded in her ears. Her eyes grew wide as she watched Shizuru's head descend upon hers. Once again she couldn't help but close her eyes as she felt her face grow warm from both embarrassment and anticipation. A billion questions raced through her mind. Her lips and mouth went dry as she anticipated a kiss that was forthcoming. She could smell Shizuru's flowery scent, her warmth engulfing her making it hard for her to breathe.

"I'd say you're being silly Nao-san." Shizuru whispered in her ear as she stepped away, watching her flush.

Hearing Shizuru almost purr her name in her own ears made Nao's stomach churn restlessly. She couldn't help but shake in impotent anger at such an underhanded manoeuvre.

"I-idiot!" Nao replied at her as she stomped away from the Kyoto woman.

Shizuru merely giggled at her response as she tried to catch up to the redhead and see what Haruka wanted.

* * *

_**Somewhere across the distance…**_

Natsuki watched Shizuru's retreating back. She didn't exactly know what happened. Only that she heard Nao's indignant cry of "Idiot" and seen a very amused Shizuru trail after the stomping redhead.

A part of her wished that Shizuru was looking for her, but it didn't seem very likely. They were probably just passing through.

"Shizuru." She whispered her name and pain once again struck her.

Mikoto, sensing her friend's dismay, nudged Mai gently with her elbow.

"What is it Mikoto?" Mai asked. Mikoto merely turned her attention to the now dejected looking Natsuki allowing Mai to put two and two together.

Mai sighed. She didn't really know what Natsuki's problem was. She had improved greatly with her attendance and was actually able to catch up on some of the work she'd missed. She had a lot of friends, not to mention she was currently holding a sandwich swimming in mayonnaise. Natsuki should be in an "over the moon" kind of mood, so to speak.

"Natsuki?" Mai asked tentatively. "Are you alright? You look out of it." More like depressed and ready to cry.

Natsuki looked at her companions and tried to look cheerful, or at least as cheerful a look as she could muster. "Yeah I'm alright. Just thought of something."

"Want to talk about it?" Mai asked.

Natsuki shook her head. "No. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Mai insisted.

Natsuki placed her sandwich away, suddenly no longer hungry, and nodded her head.

"Oh well. In any case, don't forget about this weekend ok? You need to look after Mikoto."

"But Mai! I want to go with you!" Mikoto protested.

"I explained it to you before Mikoto, You can't come to work with me anymore." Mai sighed. Besides, it freaks out the customers when Mikoto literally hung around her like a baby koala.

"I won't," Natsuki replied as she gathered her things. "I'll see you guys around alright?"

Natsuki didn't even wait for their responses as she began to walk away, ignoring the look of concern from her friends.

* * *

**xxxxxxx**

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

I hope you've enjoyed the latest update. Many thanks to Hoppy-Chan once again for being my beta. Now comes the hard part.

Since the last chapters were originally suppose to be oneshot stories, it will be a tricky decision of how to progress from this chapter. This means that the next chapter will take a while to be updated. I've got a few ideas of how to proceed but it all rests on how well I can write them. In anycase, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

I've also noticed I've written a considerable amount of angst in the last couple of chapters which I find weird since I'm not really an angsty person, so the next chapter will hopefully be more cheerful and actually have more conversation in it. Here's a little teaser for the next chappy:

Natsuki and Shizuru gets to talk in the next chapter because of a certain person. Will Natsuki confess before Nao shows up?

Lol. Well I have to go now and try and write it all out before inspiration runs out.

Oh before I forget. **I will need another person to volunteer to beta for me** so it will take out some load off Hoppy-Chan's hands. (",) (It will be even better if I can actually write better or at least improve my writing but that will take a miracle.) Sighs.

Well stay tuned and please review. Your reviews to me are like what mayonnaise are for Natsuki or what Natsuki is to Shizuru.

**Ja Ne**


	5. Almost There

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

_

* * *

_

**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **renny-chan**. Thank you very much.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

* * *

**xxxxxxx**

* * *

"Now are you sure you'll be ok?" Mai asked once again. It wasn't as though she didn't trust Natsuki with Mikoto but Mikoto has a habit of disappearing and being able to disappear before her carers. One fine example would be Chie and Aoi. How Mikoto was able to get away from the two girls remains a mystery to her, since there were two of them and only one Mikoto to look after. She really didn't want to know how the two girls got distracted when they're supposed to be looking after the wayward brunette.

"I told you Mai, I'll be fine! Jeez!" Natsuki huffed irritatingly. Seriously, how bad could it be to baby-sit a 14 year old?

"Well if you're sure…"

"For crying out loud Mai just go already!" Natsuki shouted.

"Ok! See you guys later!" Mai took her leave before Natsuki changed her mind about minding Mikoto.

"Mai…" Mikoto whispered dejectedly as she watched Mai quickly leave the apartment before turning her attention to Natsuki.

"Well it's just you and me kid." Natsuki spared a glance towards her ward.

A slight chill ran up and down Mikoto's spine as Natsuki spoke those words.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Nao asked once again. She was sitting on plush sofa in the Shizuru's living room. She was supposed to go home to her mother's place. While their relationship was amicable, it was still a bit awkward.

Nao didn't move back to her mother's apartment and stayed in the dormitory with Aoi and occasionally slept over at Shizuru's. She had told her mother that it was easier to stay in the dormitory and would visit her during the weekends. The moments were still awkward between Nao and her mother because it had been a while since they had last bonded. Her mother is still in shock about the length of time she had been "asleep".

Shizuru smiled as she watched the red head. She knew Nao would never resort to begging, she could tell Nao really didn't want to be alone with her mother. But If Shizuru continued to allow herself to accompany Nao whenever she visited her mother, their relationship will never progress and they will continue to be uncomfortable around each other. What they needed was to really spend time with each other and get to know one another once again and not use her as a buffer when that awkward silence between them arises.

"I'm afraid I have some papers I need to finish." Shizuru lied. She can finish them on a later day but she really didn't want to give Nao an excuse to bring her along.

"Are you sure? I mean I don't want to leave you here where you can be ambushed by your fan club." Nao replied back. She closed her eyes. She's so very close to begging Shizuru to come with her or at least drag her kicking and screaming.

Shizuru quirked an eyebrow. "Since when was I ever bothered by the attention they shower me?" Again another lie.

Nao grinned as she snorted. "Yeah right. What ever, this is your last chance."

_Please say yes or I'll sic that fan club of yours on you. _Her gaze silently said to Shizuru.

_Bring it on_. "I hope you have fun." Shizuru replied back with a smile.

Nao huffed slightly. _I warned you_. "I'll see you later then." She said before making her way out of Shizuru's apartment. She would only need to accidentally bump into Shizuru's fans and inform them that their precious kaichou-sama would be at the school grounds. She really didn't want to do this but Shizuru made her do it. Maybe in doing so, Shizuru would think twice in refusing her.

Shizuru watched Nao go then sighed in dismay. It won't be long until her fan club would know she was still in the school grounds. It's time to play hide and seek. She'll be sure to get her revenge later but for now, she needed to go to the student council room and be around Haruka to scare off her admirers.

* * *

"Natsuki, I'm hungry." Mikoto whined as her stomach grumbled in agreement.

"It's not even lunch yet," Natsuki replied back rather harshly. She was trying to catch up on some of her reading for literature class but nothing was getting through to her which annoyed her.

"But I'm hungry." Mikoto protested.

"Fine, fine. Let me see if I got some food for you." Natsuki grumbled but was secretly relieved to get away from the evil book. She got up and looked through the small bag Mai had left her in her room.

Mikoto on the other hand was a little impatient and wondered why Natsuki went to her room instead of the kitchen. Suspicious as to what exactly Natsuki was up to, she decided to fend for herself and inspect Natsuki's kitchen.

Mikoto went to the kitchen and began to open the cupboards only to find microwave-able dinners and instant meals. Mikoto couldn't help but winced at Natsuki's choice of foods, no wonder Mai always made extra food for her.

Natsuki then returned triumphantly into the room and called out to Mikoto.

"Mikoto! Food!" Was all she needed to say. Within mere seconds, Mikoto was in front of her eyeing the large yellow package she carried which was no doubt the packed lunch Mai made for her.

"Here you go, knock yourself out." Natsuki handed the package to Mikoto as she got back to her work. Glad that the crisis was over, little didn't notice a small note attached to the package which was fully ignored by Mikoto as she opened its contents and began to dig in.

The note fell lifelessly unto the floor. The note contained a very specific instruction, too bad it was ignored.

* * *

Haruka angrily glared at the student council president, ignoring Yukino's silent pleas. If looks could really kill, Shizuru would be nothing more but ash now because of the intesity of Haruka's glare.

Outside the student council room stood a dozen or so admirers of the Kyoto woman. All trying to plead and demand that Shizuru be given a break from her duties since it was clearly lunch time and have their kaichou eat with them.

Their protests were getting into Haruka's nerves, escalating her evil glare even higher. Yukino was trying to hold Haruka back from violently opening the door and threaten Shizuru's fan club. Yukino looked pleadingly towards Shizuru who was calmly drinking her tea, undisturbed by the ruckus her fan club was making.

Kanzaki Reito watched all this with wry amusement. It was clear the reason Shizuru was at the student council room was because of her fan club and was willing to bet that her whole plan was to sic the blonde executive on them. As much as all this amused him, he did feel sorry for Yukino and decided to intervene.

"Well since everything seems to be in order why don't we end this meeting early." Reito stated, loud enough to make sure Shizuru's fan club could hear him from the other side of the room.

Various cheers were heard from the other side of the door, much to Haruka and Yukino's relief and Shizuru's dismay.

"Mou, but there are still much to be discussed." Shizuru pointed out, as she directed her gaze to her vice president. Letting him know in subtle but very serious manner not to thwart her plans.

"Yes I agree, but we can always cover them tomorrow. But if you insist then we can go over them **after** lunch. We have covered a lot of ground today and I believe that a break should be in order." Reito replied back with a disarming smile.

Shizuru couldn't help but give him a smile of her own. One that promised a little pay back.

"Great!" Haruka piped up, before violently opening the door. "Out of my way you brats! You coming Yukino?" she was eager to get away from the bubuzuke woman. Haruka was one step away from seriously strangling her for attracting her annoying fan club at the council room and proving how much more popular Shizuru was than her.

The two executive council members then left the room, which was quickly replaced by a dozen of Shizuru's fans.

"Fujino-kaichou, please have lunch with us!" one of girls spoke for the rest of the club while one or two took the time to thank Reito for his graciousness of granting their request/demand.

"You could come too, Reito-sama!" One of the girls who thanked Reito invited. It seems some of the girls from Shizuru's fan club was a fan of his as well, or a member of KFC (Kanzaki-Fujino Club). A fan club dedicated to stalking/observing any subtext between the vice president and their student council president.

"Yes Kanzaki-san, why don't you join us?" Shizuru smiled sweetly at him but her eyes said another. _I won't suffer alone_.

"I would love to, but I'm afraid I would have to decline." He smiled apologetically. _Not on your life Shizuru_. "I just remembered Takeda-san wanted to speak to me about his club."

A few of the girls sighed dejectedly as Reito stood up and began to head out. "I'll see you later Fujino-san." Reito excused himself then winked at Shizuru playfully, making the girls in the room squeal.

Shizuru now felt trapped. She was alone with her fan club. She sighed dejectedly. She gave her fan club a pasted smile. _This is going to be a long day,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Poke…. Poke…

Twitch

Poke… Poke…

Twitch… Twitch…

Poke…

"Do that again and I'll break it off!" Natsuki snapped at Mikoto who was poking her shoulder, trying vainly to get her attention.

"I'm hungry." Mikoto whined.

"You just ate half an hour ago?!" Natsuki cried out incredulously.

"But I'm still hungry!"

Natsuki twitched again. Then noticed a note lying on the floor. She picked it up and began to read its contents.

**Natsuki,**

**This is Mikoto's lunch but I must warn you not to give it to her all at once. Just give her half of it. More likely she will insist about being hungry later.**

**Mai**

Natsuki groaned, "Now she tells me."

"Natsuki…" Mikoto continued to whine.

"Well it seems I have no choice." Natsuki said to herself as she stood up and headed towards the kitchen. She then began to take out a pot and pan from the cupboard as well as cooking oil, eggs, salt, flour and other ingredients on the kitchen counter.

Mikoto followed her to the kitchen and watched curiously as Natsuki began to set up the kitchen counter with an assortment of ingredients.

"What are you doing Natsuki?" Mikoto asked curiously as a strange chill once again began to run up and down her spine.

"Cooking of course! Why don't you sit down and watch some TV while I prepare us something to eat?"

The word cooking and the way Natsuki said the word so enthusiastically was enough to scare the cat girl. The last time she tried any of Natsuki's so called cooking, she had lost her sense of taste for a full day. It was the worst thing she had ever tried, even worst than anything spicy.

She began to slowly back away from the kitchen. Natsuki who was too preoccupied with the task of cooking did not notice the terrified look upon the cat girl's eyes nor did she notice Mikoto jump out of the window to escape her.

--------------

Mikoto ran as fast as her legs could take her, terrified of the notion of eating Natsuki's latest cooking creation. Without Mai's guidance, the food Natsuki was sure to cook was something inedible or enough to make someone have a mild case of food poisoning.

It didn't help that the extra activity only burned off the extra energy she had stored and was now making Mikoto even hungrier than before, until she caught whiff of the sweet scent of food not too far away. Determined to eat, Mikoto began to follow its faint trail.

-----------

Shizuru sat on the picnic mat, surrounded by her fan club. In front of her was enough food to feed at least a dozen people. Shizuru could tell that each dish was cooked meticulously and was made painstakingly judging from its elaborate presentation.

It made it even harder for Shizuru to reject her fan club's offer as each of them looked at her expectantly, all of them eager for her to sample their food.

The food was certainly enticing. Before her was an array of different food. From egg rolls to pasta to pastries and other mouth watering dishes. There were also various deserts to be had like cheese cake, short cake, apple crumble, cream puffs, etc.

"Oh my," She sighed in dismay. Oh my indeed, how can she refuse such delicious offers and not break anyone's heart? Thankfully the heavens seemed to have answered her prayers as a humanoid blur came charging at them, making her fan clubs scream in terror and frightening them all away.

"FOOD!" the little terror cried out as she eyed the feast right before her eyes, drooling as she did so. She then caught sight of the lone person sitting on the picnic mat.

"Ara? Mikoto-san?" Shizuru cried out as she looked at the dark haired brunette in bemusement.

Remembering the manners painstakingly taught to her by Mai, she did not devour the food before instead silently plead the woman before her if she could have some. "Hungry," Mikoto replied back, hoping that the Kyoto woman could hear the desperate request from just one retort.

Shizuru smiled at the little terror. She had to admit that Mikoto was adoringly cute, especially with her amber eyes pleading at her and who was she to deny such a request? Mikoto after all had just liberated her from her fan club and such actions should be rewarded.

"It seems that the others have left us, would you mind eating with me? I cannot finish this feast alone." Shizuru asked the cat raised girl. In truth though, she really didn't want to eat alone either. She had grown used to eating with someone.

Mikoto, not needing to be invited twice sat next to her and began to eat whatever she laid her eyes upon, making Shizuru giggle and further amusing her with how cute it was to watch the bottomless girl eat so energetically. Mikoto would pause from time to time and would even hand Shizuru a pastry or two urging her to try it with her and asked her opinion on it. Soon almost ¾ of the food was almost finished.

* * *

"Damn it! Mai will kill me!" Natsuki grumbled as she searched the school grounds looking for her charge. "When I get my hands on you Mikoto, I will strangle you!" she cried out in frustration.

* * *

Shizuru was a bit surprise when Mikoto, after finally having her fill, laid her head upon her lap and snuggled against her.

"You're so nice." Mikoto sighed as she began to get comfortable. Now that she was full she wanted nothing more but to doze off and have a quick nap. Shizuru was just as comfortable as Mai was and she also smelled nice too. Soothing lavender and gardenia began to envelop Mikoto's senses as Shizuru began to run her hands against her ebony hair.

Shizuru was surprised at Mikoto's hair texture. It was unbelievably soft and shiny despite its unruly style, reminding her of another person dear to her. She began to remember running her hands through dark blue black hair as it sifted through her fingers. She sighed heavily as her heart yet again began to constrict as images of the past began to assail her.

Mikoto who was very perceptive despite what everyone thought sensed her melancholy and looked up to her comforter. Shizuru had the same melancholy eyes as Natsuki.

"Ara? What is it Mikoto-san?" Shizuru found herself asking as she felt Mikoto's inquiring gaze at her.

Mikoto didn't answer her, but raised her hand to touch her cheek, the gesture surprising Shizuru. "You look just like her you know? She's very sad too."

"Ara? I do not know what you mean." Shizuru answered her, making Mikoto shake her head negatively as she retracted her hand from her person.

"She cares for you and misses you so much." Mikoto continued, making Shizuru's chest constrict with pain as she found herself having difficulty breathing.

"I miss her too." Shizuru said honestly and almost in a whisper.

"So why are you two so sad? Don't you like each other anymore?" Mikoto asked innocently.

Shizuru wanted to laugh at such an innocent question. She shook her head as she answered the brunette on her lap. "I'm afraid my like is different from hers."

"Is it love?" Mikoto asked tentatively. During the HiME carnival there were still things she didn't understand, love and like are the same aren't they? They just differ in the extent of emotion the person has or so she understands.

Shizuru remained silent. She knew she loved Natsuki but her love was impure compared to Natsuki. Her affection was more of a disease, destroying lives due to its selfishness and obsession.

Sensing Shizuru's trepidation, Mikoto decided to impart her own knowledge to her to help comfort her. "Love is good," she grunted as she snuggled against Shizuru once again. Mikoto was happy that she found another person to snuggle to. Shizuru's chest wasn't as big as Mai's but it was just as nice.

"Not for someone like me" she whispered to herself as she continued to stroke the other girl's dark hair and eventually lulling Mikoto to sleep.

* * *

Natsuki finally reached the one place she had not checked yet. She finally found her charge near the rose gardens and she was not alone.

To say Natsuki was surprise would be an understatement. The little imp was lying on her Shizuru's lap fast asleep while Shizuru stroked her head like she would to a kitten. The sight would have been classified as cute and endearing that is, if she wasn't suffering from jealousy at wishing she was at Mikoto's place right now.

She knew what it felt like to find comfort in Shizuru. It felt as though nothing in the world mattered and that she was safe as long as she was around. She gave off an air of peace and tranquillity that forced her to succumb to it even if she fought against it.

She approached them slowly, unsure and awkward. It seems Shizuru was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice her approach. A mild sting of hurt went through her at the thought of Shizuru's indifference, when in truth it was her that occupied Shizuru's current thoughts.

"Shizuru?" Natsuki called to her tentatively. Her name still rolled off her tongue so smoothly and sweetly that it caused so much pain within her.

"Ara? Natsuki?" Shizuru replied back as she was brought back into reality. It couldn't be could it? It can't possibly be her standing awkwardly before her.

"I see you found the little hell raiser." Natsuki laughed awkwardly trying to fight off the awkwardness she felt.

"Got away from you did she?" Shizuru couldn't help but smile, she can already guess that Natsuki was looking after Mikoto before Mikoto decided to run off.

"You can say that," Natsuki smiled back, taking Shizuru's happy reply as an invitation, she sat herself across from her. "This is quite a picnic set-up you have Shizuru, so where's the fan girls?"

Shizuru couldn't help but smile once again, Natsuki knew her (her fans to be in fact) so well. "I think they had quite a fright when this little miscreant stumbled upon our little picnic." Shizuru answered as she continued to comb Mikoto's hair with her fingers, still marvelling at how soft Mikoto's hair was.

"Little huh?" Natsuki couldn't help but be sarcastic as she noticed the empty dishes that was on the picnic mat as well as the left overs. She had to admit though the food did smell quite appealing, making her stomach growl, reminding her that she had yet to eat herself.

Shizuru couldn't help but giggle as she watched Natsuki blush from her hunger induced reaction and making Natsuki frown at her in irritation as a response. It felt dangerously too familiar.

"Please feel free to have some, Kami knows I wouldn't be able to finish it all by myself, maybe if I wait for Mikoto to wake up?" Shizuru chuckled as Mikoto was known to have a black hole for a stomach. No doubt the girl on her lap would be famished once again, once she wakes.

Natsuki was still glaring at her but grudgingly accepted her offer. Despite her outer appearance of annoyance, deep inside Natsuki was wondrously happy to once again be reunited with her at such an amicable atmosphere.

She couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked or how the gardens flowers accentuated her graceful beauty. It was a beautiful afternoon, where the sun was out and the clouds where white and fluffy. More importantly, they were relatively alone. Natsuki knew this would probably the best time to finally reveal all of her pent up feelings for Shizuru but at the same time she was afraid of what reaction she may receive from her. She decided that the best way to convey her feelings was to first establish the truth.

"I miss you…" Natsuki said in almost a whisper as she shyly looked at the woman before her after having her fill with food.

Shizuru felt her heart lurch at the barely heard declaration. Natsuki's honest and shy declaration brought an all too familiar feelings of butterflies flying wildly in her stomach. Shizuru fought hard not to read between the lines as she was already hurt and wrong before. Reading something that may not have been there could only bring more pain and heartache. It was so typical of Natsuki to utter something so innocent and pure while she wanted so hard to believe those words means otherwise, twisting Natsuki's innocent words to what she wanted to hear.

After what seemed to be like an eternity to Natsuki, Shizuru finally replied back but she was confused as to how schooled Shizuru's features were. "I missed you too."

Though Shizuru's words were honest and true, Natsuki could sense a hint of bitterness within them. The bitterness in her answer made Natsuki panic as she rapidly shook her head in denial. "No Shizuru, I meant I really missed you!" She almost yelled at Shizuru.

Shizuru gave her a bitter smile. "Ara? As I said Natsuki, I share the same sentiment."

Natsuki wanted nothing more but to grab Shizuru by her shoulders and shake her until she finally got a clue as to what she was trying to say. Why was it so hard for Shizuru to understand? Why were words stuck in her throat?

Natsuki shook her head once again. "I care for you Shizuru that's why I worry about you." she said softly and as honestly as she could as she felt her cheeks grow warm.

Natsuki's words felt like barbed wires, slowly tightening within Shizuru's chest. She couldn't risk falling for Natsuki again. She couldn't risk hurting Natsuki again with her tainted affections. So even if it hurt, Shizuru plastered a serene smile upon her face as she smiled at her. A smile that never reached her eyes or the true feelings she wanted to convey.

"I care about you too Natsuki, so very much." So much in fact that she was ready to renounce her vows of redemption so that she could hold Natsuki within her arms once again and never let go. But that was the problem wasn't it? Shizuru loved her so much that she was going to suffocate her. She couldn't, wouldn't let that happen. Natsuki was her most precious love and she would never hurt her again.

Natsuki felt elated by her words to register the way Shizuru has spoken her reply. To Natsuki, she only heard the honest and sweet words, she desperately wanted to hear that she didn't sense the sadness laced within them.

"Well isn't this all quaint?" a sarcastic yet familiar feminine voice made her presence known, making Natsuki growl in response.

* * *

xxxxxxx

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Hope you like the latest update.

I tried to make this chapter as light-hearted as possible but it seems I keep drifting to a more angsty type writing, but I do hope you've enjoyed reading this.

I'm trying to write the next chapter as fast as I can before my inspiration runs away from me again.

Many thanks once again to **renny-chan** for helping me out and beta-ed this chapter. It really was greatly appreciated.

As always please review. Your reviews to me are like what mayonnaise are to Natsuki.

**Ja Ne**


	6. Chance Meeting

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

_

* * *

_

**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **zelene2004 and renny-chan**. Thank you very much and I hope you did well in your exams.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

* * *

**xxxxxxx**

* * *

The moment Nao had spotted Natsuki and Shizuru, she knew she just had to be there. She had paid her mother a short visit since they were still awkward around each other. Although, it was nice to finally get to know one another once again. She realized now why Shizuru pushed for her to spend some alone time with her mother, but it would take a little time to get used to.

She was eager to tell Shizuru all about it and searched for her, ready to scare off the fan girls that were surely be bugging her. Nao was sure that Shizuru would be so grateful for rescuing her, that she would let it slide that Nao was the one responsible for siccing her fan club onto her in the first place. Nao was certainly surprised to see Shizuru in the usual spot where her fan club prepared her their usual picnic lunch only to discover they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she found Kuga alone with her Shizuru.

Nao couldn't help but growl as she approached their picnic site. They seemed to be too engrossed in their little conversation to be aware of her approach, which made her even more determined to let her presence be known.

_"I care about you…"_ Kuga's words seemed to echo in her ears, but what made her even angrier was Shizuru's reply.

_"I care about you too, Natsuki, so very much."_

Burning coils of jealousy seemed to have wrapped around her, but Nao was far more perceptive than most people give her credit for. While she was angry at Kuga's response to Shizuru's answer, she couldn't help but smirk as well. There was bitterness and sadness laced around Shizuru's sweet reply, and Nao could already tell that judging from Kuga's reaction, she did not detect any of those negative feelings.

As much as this touching little scene amused her, she couldn't let Kuga get too close to her Shizuru. After all, Natsuki let Shizuru go.

"Well isn't this all quaint?" she said sarcastically making her presence known.

Nao smirked as she could hear Kuga growl at her direction, while Shizuru looked at her questioningly.

Not waiting to be invited, she plopped herself down next to Shizuru. Nao suddenly realized that Natsuki and Shizuru weren't the only ones there as she first thought when she noticed a black mop of hair snuggling peacefully on Shizuru's lap.

"Mikoto?" Nao asked in surprise and with a little hint of jealousy. She had to admire her peer for being able to be so close to Shizuru as Shizuru doted on her.

Nao leaned a little too close to Shizuru for Natsuki's liking, and to make it worse, Shizuru didn't seem to mind the redhead at all!

"She looks adorable," Nao smirked as she gazed at Mikoto's slumbering form, leaning closer to Shizuru to have a better view of the sleeping girl. She couldn't help but giggle as she saw Mikoto began to drool.

"Adorable indeed." Shizuru relied back exasperatedly, not really relishing having the younger girl's drool upon her person, though she couldn't help but agree with Nao.

Natsuki didn't like how easy it was for Nao to gain Shizuru's attention, or that both girls seemed to have ignored her presence. To make up for it, Natsuki grabbed a serviette and crawled over to them as she wiped Mikoto's drool.

"Problem solved!" She grinned at Shizuru, ignoring Nao's glare.

The two green-eyed girls then began to glare daggers at each other much to Shizuru's amusement. She was unaware of the true reason behind the two girl's animosity against each other. The real reason about their apathy against each other which only intensified at that particular moment. She was only aware of the more obvious reasons and remained oblivious to everything else.

Shizuru knew where Nao stood with her dislike. Nao had always viewed Natsuki as her rival due to their similar circumstances. Nao disliked Natsuki for her underdog successes while Natsuki just disliked Nao for disliking her. At least that's how Shizuru saw it.

However, watching over the two, she couldn't help giggling as she began to imagine the two girls as a cat and dog. The cute image of Natsuki with doggy ears and tail while Nao sported a cat ears and tail was just too cute for her to imagine, eliciting a girlish giggle within her.

Nao and Natsuki ceased their evil glares when they noticed that the object of their dispute was giggling at them. Both girls now turned their attention towards the giggling kaichou, wondering, _"What the hell was so damn funny?"_

Shizuru sensed the two girls' attention upon her person and tried to compose herself, but the image of the two girls in their cute animal form just kept popping in her mind, making the two glare at her.

"What's so damn funny Shizuru?" Natsuki couldn't hold back her annoyance anymore, she could tell that Shizuru was up to her teasing tricks once again. She felt her cheeks grow warm, as Shizuru's giggles were always a sign of something embarrassing about her.

"Yeah Shizuru? What the hell is up with you giggling like a loon?" Nao couldn't help but agree with her rival. It was one thing for Shizuru to be amused, but this circumstance was different since she could feel she was involved somehow.

"You two," came Shizuru's amused reply as she struggled to keep her amusement at bay as another set of giggles threatened to disrupt her resolve.

"And what, pray tell is so funny?" Nao asked coolly, "I get why you'd be laughing at Kuga." Nao retorted as she pointed with her thumb to the azure headed girl for greater emphasis as though to prove her point.

"Hey! Why do you assume it's me?" Natsuki protested with a shriek of indignation.

"It's always you." Nao replied back as though it was only the most logical answer in the world.

"You two are really like cats and dogs," Shizuru couldn't help but giggle.

"SHIZURU!" both girls cried out in unison, as they both blushed crimson, eliciting another row of giggles from the Kyoto woman.

"SHUT UP!" both girls chorused once again.

"Ara?" Shizuru uttered, raising one delicately shaped eyebrow as a response. Their similarities were uncanny.

By now, the two quarrelling girls looked at one another questioningly. Their response to Shizuru was so eerily synchronized, that it was starting to freak both girls out.

Thankfully, an untimely groan from the sleeping brunette broke the awkward silence.

"Soft," Mikoto mewed as she snuggled impossibly closer to Shizuru's bosom much to the two girls' annoyance. Mikoto began to rub her face against Shizuru's ample chest, purring as she did so.

Mikoto's untimely distraction provided Shizuru a great time to steer the conversation to a more peaceful subject and cut the "_envious_?" glare they're currently directing at the ebony haired brunette.

"How did your visit to your mother go, Nao?" Shizuru asked, wondering how the mother and daughter were doing.

Nao ceased her glare at the sleeping Mikoto and turned her attention towards the Kyoto woman.

"It went well, She told me that the physio and counseling she was receiving was doing wonders for her anxiety." She happily answered Shizuru. Nao's mother had been going through physiotherapy (physical therapy) to help her regain and rebuild the use of her muscles. She had been in a coma for so long that It was recommended by the doctors that she undergo some exercises to regain use of her limbs and rebuild the muscles that have gone lax due to not being used for so long.

Natsuki watched how Nao and Shizuru interacted. She wondered how Nao could talk so cheerfully and carefree towards Shizuru, who was responsible for her defeat during the HiME carnival and making her temporarily loose her mother and Childe.

Natsuki had always viewed Nao as bitter and a bit of a loner. Ok, to be honest she had always viewed Nao as a bitch and a thorn on her side, but she understood where Nao was coming from, even just by a little bit. But seeing Shizuru and Nao be so close was a very disturbing sight for her. She didn't like this feeling one bit.

"Ara? Natsuki?" Shizuru tried to get Natsuki's attention.

"Huh?" Natsuki replied back, unaware that Shizuru has just asked her a question.

"I asked Natsuki if she is doing well with her classes, but I guess Natsuki's mind is elsewhere." In truth, Shizuru already knew that Natsuki's grades had improved, but she wanted to hear Natsuki tell her.

Natsuki's face became animated as she began to tell Shizuru how her grades had improved, not too greatly of course, but better than what she had received last semester. Of course, Nao also began to tell Shizuru about her own studies and pretty soon both girls were now competing at how well they were now doing to impress the Kyoto woman.

"I am so proud of both of you!" Shizuru clapped appreciatively as she placed her hands on the side of her face, the one that made her look so adoringly cute and happy, making the two girls blush at her response.

"It's not that much," Natsuki sheepishly commented.

"It's not that hard," Nao also commented almost at the same time.

"I think both efforts should be rewarded," Shizuru continued her praise, "I know, why don't I take you both to the amusement park?"

Both girls frowned, while secretly delighted at the prospect, but they had to put up a protest so they didn't seem too eager.

"What am I seven?"

"Do I look like a kid to you?"

Shizuru pretended to sigh. "Well, I was looking forward to going to the amusement park, but if you two ladies wouldn't want to come I understand. I am sure I could find someone who would willingly come and escort me."

Both girls looked at each, as the same thought seemed to pass through their minds. Images of Shizuru's fan club all vying for her attention was enough to make them cringe, not to mention the amusement park was a prime location for any number of unattached males to pick-up unassuming girls, not that Fujino Shizuru was anyone to be messed around with, but she would definitely have her hands full if she were to go alone.

"FINE!" both girls griped as they glared at each other once again. They would not let the other be alone with Shizuru no matter what. Their rivalry seemed to have intensified with one little subject.

They were interrupted, however, when one of the members from Shizuru's fanclub approached them.

--------

The girl sighed in relief, before glaring at the girls that was with her beloved Kaichou-sama. They didn't deserve to be around her beloved kaichou. She knew Yuuki Nao and Kuga Natsuki's reputations and looked at them in disdain. Their idol was far too nice and far too kind to even spend time with these rebellious girls.

"_Perhaps kaichou was trying to counsel them and make them better and more refined young women?"_ The thought almost made the girl squeal at Shizuru's awesomeness.

But that didn't mean she liked them hanging around her precious kaichou. She certainly didn't like the brazen brunette who was openly using her idol's bosom as a substitute pillow. She cursed herself internally for having abandoned their kaichou when the brunette showed up from out of nowhere and scared the living daylights out of her and the rest of the fan club. She had assumed that their kaichou had run away like the rest of them, but she smiled looking at the Kyoto woman. She watched while their kaichou peacefully stroked the wild girl's unruly hair like some sort of cat. She remembering an old saying about beauty taming the beast which made her smile, for Fujino Shizuru was more than merely beautiful, she was a goddess.

"May I help you Kaori-san?" Shizuru asked as she wondered why one of the members of her fan club had returned, probably to see if she got away and retrieved her belongings. It also didn't escape Shizuru's notice, that the girl had been scrutinizing the girls around her and sizing them all up which made her want to chuckle in amusement. If the girl knew that girls before her were all proficient fighters, with or without their HiME powers, she would think twice about thinking of trying to challenge the green-eyed beauties.

Kaori flushed at her idol's attention and the mention of her name. It just meant that she was special enough to make her idol remember her name, unaware that Shizuru just took a lucky guess at her name.

"Suzushiro-san has sent message that the meeting is ready to resume if you are still willing," she politely and sweetly informed the Kyoto woman, even though Suzushiro Haruka didn't really send the message as politely and sweetly as she had delivered it. If she could recall correctly it was more of:

_"WHERE IS THAT DAMN BUBUZUKE WOMAN? DOESN'T SHE KNOW LAUNCH HAS FINISHED HOURS AGO!"_

_"It's _**_Lunch,_**_ Haruka-chan,"_

_"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID! SHE'S DALLYING THE MEETING!"_

_"_**_Delaying_**_, Haruka-chan."_

Kaori was lucky enough to be passing by the student council room in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their beloved student council and made sure she was all right. As soon as she heard the self-appointed executive council representative's rants, she made herself readily available and volunteered to search for her idol. After all, if she found the council president that would mean Fujino-kaichou would be walking back with her. The mere idea was enough to make her swoon in delight. And now it seems her wish will be coming true. She would be walking with the school idol. Just the two of them!

Kaori's eyes began to glaze as she fought the urge to swoon as such magnificent possibility as well as potential for more possibilities.

Shizuru sighed. She didn't want this moment to end. She loved being able to be close to Natsuki once again, able to laugh freely and be herself around them.

Natsuki, sensing Shizuru's distress decided to take her leave, though she really didn't want to.

"Well I guess you better go, Shizuru. I'll take Mikoto back to my dorm." Natsuki reluctantly said as she tried not to show any bitterness in her voice. Thinking of how unfair it was that their time was cut short once more.

As Natsuki reached out to wake the sleeping brunette from Shizuru's lap, Shizuru turned her attention towards Kaori and gave her reply. "I'm sorry Kaori-san, but could you please inform the council to call it a day, and that we will convene again at a later day?"

"Kaichou?" Kaori wanted to protest, but she was cut off by Shizuru's reply.

"They have all been working so hard all of today, so they might as well just enjoy the rest of the day." Shizuru answered sweetly.

Kaori looked like a fish out of water as she stared at her idol in shock. Gone was her little fantasy of walking back to the student council with spring flowers falling at the background behind them. It was now replaced with her all alone by herself with a gloomy background. Add the fact that she would also have to face an already annoyed blonde executive representative with no kaichou in tow who, would in no doubt will scream and screech her lungs out, and you have yourself in one very unpleasant situation.

Putting aside the little fantasy that's now been snatched away or the unpleasant consequences in the nearby future caused by her ear drums being shattered by the blonde executive, Kaori couldn't be bothered by all of these for the stronger sense of shock at the out of character response from her beloved kaichou basically killed most of all her other concerns.

Never before had she witnessed her beloved idol forego her responsibilities. A strange sense of disillusionment washed over her as she tried to rationalize her beloved idol's response. As the rest of Shizuru's words began to sink in, she realized that her idol was again being too kind to her peers. Her idol was just too soft hearted to make everyone continue the meeting on a weekend when everyone should be having fun. Still, the girls that accompanied her beloved idol would need to be monitored. It just wouldn't do for their beloved kaichou to be hanging around troublemakers.

Kaori bowed respectfully to Shizuru, "As you wish Kaichou-sama," giving Natsuki and Nao one last glare before taking her leave.

Nao snorted in disdain while Natsuki growled in annoyance.

Once they were alone, Shizuru and her companions continued their conversation. Even Mikoto woke up and joined them enthusiastically, but much to both girls' dismay Mikoto didn't leave Shizuru's side. It seemed the brunette had found herself a substitute for Mai as she literally latched herself on to Shizuru much as she would if Mai was with them. Time seemed to pass by and sooner than both green-eyed girls realized it, it was already getting quite late.

Shizuru and Nao walked Natsuki and Mikoto back to her their dorm since Mikoto was reluctant in letting go of Shizuru or her bosom, which left Nao to walk with Natsuki. The atmosphere seemed to be amicable enough, but there was still a palpable tension between Nao and Natsuki.

Natsuki didn't want the day to end, and she rather preferred to have spent the day with Shizuru without minor annoyances like Nao and Mikoto; nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel happy to finally breach the invisible gap between her and Shizuru and to finally spend time with her as always.

As Natsuki closed her apartment door, she couldn't help looking forward to going to the amusement park with Shizuru, even if she had to put up with Nao. She needed to keep a close eye on the redhead for she didn't trust Nao anywhere near Shizuru.

* * *

Shizuru walked silently back to her apartment with Nao in tow. It seemed the red head wanted to spend the night. Shizuru didn't really mind the company, for her thoughts were too preoccupied with the picnic. Shizuru couldn't believe how normal and happy she felt to be surrounded by people who really cared about her even though Natsuki didn't care for her as much as she wanted to.

Nao, on the other hand, was also preoccupied with her own thoughts. She watched her companion with veiled eyes. She couldn't help but feel happy that Shizuru seemed to be in a happy mood, she could see it in her crimson eyes, but at the same time she felt threatened by what that implied.

"Are you sleeping over tonight?" Shizuru asked as they reached her place.

Nao gave her a sly grin. "Do you want me to?"

Shizuru merely gave her a playful shrug as she took of her shoes and left the door opened leaving the decision entirely up to the red head.

Nao followed Shizuru in and closed the door.

-------

That night, Nao sneaked into Shizuru's room. She watched Shizuru quietly dream as the moon's rays from her open window cast an ethereal glow upon her slumbering form. She was painstakingly and breathlessly beautiful. So beautiful that it was making her chest constrict, making it harder for her to breathe.

Ever so slowly she approached Shizuru as though there was an invisible force drawing her to her.

Her footsteps were light and noiseless, but somehow it managed to rouse Shizuru from her slumber.

"Nao?" Shizuru groggily whispered as her eyes adjusted in the darkness to focus on the shape before her, wondering why the redhead was in her room.

Nao managed to keep down her surprise and tried to find an excuse as to why she would be in Fujino Shizuru's room.

"I couldn't sleep," which was true and wasn't a complete lie anyway.

There were too many questions that filled her mind, keeping her awake. The only thing that seemed to console her was the thought that perhaps if she could only see Shizuru, the one that plagued her mind with questions, she would feel at ease and walk straight back to bed. She didn't really intend to be caught by her; now, she probably looked like some weirdo watching her sleep.

To Nao's surprise, Shizuru began to make room for her as she lifted the blanket, indicating that she should get in.

Shizuru, even though clouded by sleep, was still too kind and remembered the many nights Natsuki also did this, looking for comfort from the nightmares she had about her mother. It had become routine for her almost.

Nao didn't speak another word as she climbed in and laid down beside Shizuru who wrapped her in her warm embrace as she once again fell asleep.

Nao listened to the steady beat of Shizuru's heart as she tried hard to make her own heartbeat match Shizuru's. She unconsciously held onto Shizuru tighter, not wanting to let go, trying to find comfort in her warm embrace but found more questions instead. She cursed Kuga Natsuki mentally once again.

"I won't let you have her," Nao murmured before finally letting sleep claim her.

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xxxxxxx

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**Author's Notes:**

Sorry about the late update. My computer has finally been fixed unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to catch my rapidly running inspiration. Maybe if I had a net?

I hope you enjoyed reading this and thanks again to **zelene2004** and **renny-chan** for pre-reading this for me and I hope you both did well in your exams and papers.

A little note though,

kikyo4ever had written a very thought provoking review which was shared by a couple of readers which makes me want to reply here in my notes. Don't worry I am not upset, I just thought a review with so much passion deserves a reply (winks).

I am not trying to take Shizuru's love for Natsuki lightly. Shizuru's love as seen in anime is too intense, too powerful that in the end it both burned her and Natsuki. I'm trying to write/show that Shizuru is trying to improve and better herself to be more deserving of Natsuki. I really can't say anything more because I might reveal my intended plotline here and ruin it for the other readers so I'll leave this as it is. I know, I know I'm being cruel and my reply isn't an actual answer but thats the most anyone will get out of me. ; p

Well thats all for now really.

Please review, your reviews to me are like what mayonnaise are for Natsuki.

**Ja Ne**


	7. Getting a bit Crowded

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

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**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sick my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **zelene2004 and renny-chan**. Thank you very much once again.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

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xxxxxxx

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It was a beautiful weekend morning.

The birds where singing, the flowers were in full bloom and a certain Kyoto woman couldn't wait until she reached her desired destination. It took a lot of teasing on her part to manipulate/convince two green-eyed beauties to accompany her to the amusement park.

To many, it may not mean a lot to go to an Amusement Park. To many people her age, a trip to such a place didn't mean much. It was full of mundane rides, overabundance of food and sly trickery in many of the game booths. Others would think that going to an Amusement Park wouldn't appeal to her as it would go against her graceful image, but it meant a lot to Fujino Shizuru.

As a child she had always adored amusement parks, but because of her stature, her interaction with the public was limited thus adding to her mysterious image. She was not allowed to socialize with kids her guardian thought were beneath her stature, leaving Shizuru lonely and isolated.

She smiled when she recalled that the only person that wanted to interact with her back then was Suzushiro Haruka. The person whom her guardian tried so hard to limit her contact with since the blonde heiress was too boisterous and far too uncivilized even though she came from a very noble and wealthy family like Shizuru herself. Eventually, her guardian did succeed and she had seen less of Haruka. Perhaps if she had tried harder in rebelling against her guardian, she and Haruka would have been best friends, or at least closer friends rather than mere acquaintances.

Thinking about her sad and slightly lonely upbringing made Shizuru even more determined to reach her destination. She was currently on her way to pick-up Yuuki Nao from her mother's apartment, a thought that made her smile.

She was glad that Nao was getting along with her mother so well, even though she was still feeling insecure and uncomfortable about the whole thing. Nao had confided in her that she felt slightly uncomfortable being with her mother since she had been alone for so long. She didn't really know how to start all over again, but she really didn't want to disappoint her mother.

Shizuru sighed. At least she was able to start all over again. In her case, she had to book an appointment or schedule for a meeting to be able to meet her parents who were far too busy with their own affairs and businesses to inquire about her wellbeing. The only reason why Shizuru had never acted out was because all of her academic achievements did make her parents dote some attention on her, especially when it came to showing her off to all their friends.

Every time she topped a class, her parents would take her to parties and boast about her intellect and her well upbringing. Not once did they tell their so-called friends that she was practically raised by her grandparents and caregivers.

Shizuru couldn't even brush off those times since it would be the only time she would see her parents' eyes shine in delight and display how openly proud they were of her. Those were the only times she was able to spend time with her parents. That was the reason why she would push herself so much to become the perfect maiden: graceful, angelic, intelligent, sophisticated and beautiful.

But despite having such limited time with her parents, she also hated them. She hated how she couldn't truly express herself to them. Worried that if she disappointed them in such a way, they will minimize what limited contact they already have.

Shizuru closed her eyes as she tried to push the rest of the negative thoughts from the back of her mind. She didn't really need them right now. She needed to enjoy herself and look forward to spending the rest of the day with two people who had become dear to her.

Before Shizuru realized it, she was already in front of Mrs. Yuuki's apartment.

* * *

Yuuki Kuriko heard a faint knock upon her apartment door and deduced it to be her daughter's friend Fujino Shizuru. She smiled to herself as she thought about her daughter's friend. Fujino Shizuru was such a great influence on her daughter, and it always seemed that being with her made her daughter more animated and happier.

She noticed her daughter's green eyes seemed to sparkle every time Shizuru was with her or talked about her day that had been spent with the Kyoto born woman. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed her daughter had a little crush on the other woman, but it couldn't be could it? Her daughter really seems too popular with the guys to be having crushes on girls, especially on someone like Fujino Shizuru.

Kuriko shook her head to clear out the thoughts in her mind and opened the door to welcome her daughter's friend. As expected, behind the door was indeed Fujino Shizuru wearing dark blue jeans and a simple purple tank top with a matching cardigan.

Kuriko was slightly taken aback at how casual and how good the younger girl looked, especially with her hair tied up and a few chestnut locks falling out of place, framing her already too perfect face. She looked almost normal, not the regal Fujino Shizuru she was used to, but this Shizuru still carried an air of elegance around her despite the casual clothes she wore.

Shizuru smiled at her as she bowed respectfully to Kuriko. "Good morning Yuuki-san, I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I am here to pick up Nao-san."

Kuriko bowed in return and was about to answer her when her own daughter yelled from her room.

"BE READY IN A MINUTE SHIZURU!"

Kuriko merely smiled. "As you see could see Shizuru-san, my daughter is still getting dressed, and it seems that she will be a while. Would you like to come in and have some tea first?"

Shizuru smiled at Kuriko. "I would love too."

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**Meanwhile at Nao's room, **

Nao threw the fifth article of clothing she had tried on in the morning, making an already messy pile of clothes on her bed grow even higher. She searched her wardrobe for something else to wear when she heard the knock on their apartment door. She knew immediately it was Shizuru, which made her even more determined to find the perfect outfit.

Nao groaned. She really should have gone shopping the day before. Until now, she couldn't decide what to wear. She knew she had to out dress Natsuki. She just had to!

-------

**Somewhere in Fuuka, **

Natsuki was also having a serious fashion emergency. She couldn't decide what outfit to wear for the day. She wanted to scream in frustration.

"Why the hell does this have to be so damn hard?!" Natsuki screamed out loud. Why should she bother choosing what outfit to wear today? She briefly considered calling Tokiha Mai for some fashion tips.

It was only when she glanced at the picture beside her bedside table did she see the reason why. She walked towards her bed, which already had piles of clothing on top of it and picked up the picture frame that contained the reason of her frustration.

In the picture stood her and Shizuru. Shizuru had her arms wrapped around her waist from behind and while she looked partially scandalized as Shizuru smiled animatedly in the photo.

Natsuki smiled as she remembered Harada Chie was the one who had taken the photo. How Shizuru managed to get the photo from the gossip queen was a mystery, but she was glad she did.

She touched the photo gingerly, particularly Shizuru's smiling face. She felt a smile draw from her own lips as she caressed the photo. She then hugged the photo tightly to her chest as she flopped on the bed, her back landing rather awkwardly on top of the pile of clothes as she lied there still hugging the photo.

Natsuki then drew the photograph away from herself in arms length, still admiring the photo eliciting a gentle and serene smile on her face. She had made a decision on what to wear.

It was silly really, why would she need to try and dress up when the woman in the photo adored her the way she was?

"Shizuru," Natsuki whispered to herself as she placed the photograph back to its rightful place.

She got back up from the bed and dressed in her dark blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a hood. She contemplated wearing her leathers but decided against it. It wasn't appropriate to wear it around while walking all day under the sun in the amusement park.

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**Back at the Yuuki's apartment, **

Nao finally emerged in her room wearing a white sundress and a matching small purse bag, looking nervous as she did so. She could hear faint voices of conversation coming from the kitchen and decided it was now or never.

As she entered the kitchen, her breath was slightly taken away by the sight of Shizuru looking casual yet so enticing all the same. She was currently sipping a cup of tea with her mother. Both were animatedly conversing when she entered the room.

"I-I'm ready," Nao informed them, cursing mentally at how awkward she sounded.

When Kuriko turned around she couldn't help but feel maternally proud at how beautiful her daughter had grown and wasn't shy at all to voice it out loud.

"Oh my Nao-chan! Look at you! You look so beautiful! Don't you think so Shizuru-san?" she asked her tea-sipping companion.

Shizuru smiled graciously, which made Nao blush a pretty shade of pink. "Ara? You took the words right out of my mouth, Yuuki-san."

Nao, trying to stop herself from flustering any further, decided it was time to leave before she further embarrassed herself. "Let's get going Shizuru," she then kissed her mother on the cheek and bid her farewell.

Kuriko walked her daughter and Shizuru at the door, as Nao made her way out ahead of Shizuru. Kuriko exchanged a meaningful glance at Shizuru. Shizuru, in turn, acknowledged her meaningful glance with a curt bow and an honest smile as she followed the younger redhead out of the apartment.

As Kuriko watched her daughter and Shizuru walked away, a strange feeling of content washed over her, knowing that someone like Fujino Shizuru was looking after her one and only precious daughter.

* * *

"Do we really need to pick up Kuga?" Nao grumbled as she walked alongside the Kyoto woman towards Kuga Natsuki's apartment. She felt strangely uncomfortable going towards her rival's place because of the memories the place entailed the last time she was there.

Shizuru just gave her redheaded companion a gracious smile. "It's only fair that we go to the amusement park together."

"Can't she just meet us there?" Nao once again grumbled.

"Mou, we talked about this already; besides, it is not fair that Natsuki must travel alone towards the amusement park." Shizuru explained to the already annoyed redhead.

"Why not?" Nao once again complained.

Shizuru sighed. She really didn't know what Nao's problem with Natsuki was. It wasn't fair to Natsuki to make her way towards the amusement park alone. Since Natsuki's place wasn't all that far to the bus station, they can all easily hop on the bus to go to the amusement park together.

She decided the best way to distract the redhead was by teasing her a bit.

"Do I sense some jealousy in you, Nao-san?" Shizuru teased the already irritated redhead whom began to puff her cheeks unconsciously.

"Jealousy?" Nao scoffed, "As if! Why should I be jealous of Kuga?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Shizuru cunningly asked and was surprised that the redhead became quiet and all of her inane questions suddenly ceased. Shizuru heard her mumble something under her breath, but she didn't quite catch it because it was too faint.

"You should know," Nao mumbled rather gruffly, as her hands unconsciously clenched and unclenched.

To the redhead's surprise she felt the older girl wrap her arms around her. "Mou, don't frown like that Nao-san, you're too young to have wrinkles." Shizuru pointed out playfully.

Nao slightly colored as she tried to shake the other woman off of her. "Stop that! Let go!"

"I won't let go until I see a smile on Nao-san's beautiful face."

Nao flustered even more as her lips began to quirk into a smile; it was simply impossible to shrug Shizuru off or stay mad at her, especially when she was being this…this adorable.

Shizuru grinned triumphantly, "Ara? Is that a smile I see forming?"

"Yeah, yeah! All right already! You got me to smile, so do you mind letting go of me now?" Nao asked as she tried to wriggle free from Shizuru's hug.

"I don't know," Shizuru, replied back rather nonchalantly, still not relenting her grip on the younger woman.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Nao almost squeaked, they were making quite a scene. She swore she saw a couple of people stare at them.

"Now I want to see how red you can go," Shizuru said rather impishly.

"Shizuru!" Nao flustered, making Shizuru succeed in her scheme. Shizuru finally let go of her captive, giggling as she watched Nao walked rather briskly away from her, determined to get to Kuga Natsuki's place as soon as possible.

* * *

Natsuki wasn't exactly thrilled to see the redhead standing before her when she answered the door. She had imagined a mischievious chestnut-haired Kyoto beauty with a knowing grin to greet her and never expected to be greeted by her arch-nemesis and decided to let her displeasure be known. In fact, she glowered at the redheaded deviant.

"Nice to see you too, Are you ready yet?" Nao asked rather gruffly.

"Yeah, just let me lock up, and then we'll go." Natsuki replied back as she grabbed her keys from her pocket and locked the door.

It wasn't until she was done locking the door did she notice Nao's outfit. She couldn't help but snort in slight amusement.

"Something funny Kuga?" Nao glared at the azure haired biker.

"Are you trying to pass as an innocent maiden with that getup Nao?" Natsuki began to snicker. "Are you trying to trap more unsuspecting perverts and pedophiles?" The idea of Nao in a white sundress was slightly funny given by her rather scandalous reputation.

What's next? Nao joining the sisterhood?

"Are you being an insufferable bitch again Kuga?' Nao acidly spat back.

Natsuki growled and was about to pay her back for the insult when Shizuru called for their attention.

"Oh good, you're ready! We're all set then!" Shizuru clapped in delight.

The two green-eyed beauties glared daggers at each other but didn't exchange a word. As Shizuru began to walk ahead of them, their steely gaze remained on each other; somehow, they managed to communicate without any words. An unspoken challenge was made and whatever animosity they had for each other has been postponed, for now anyways.

* * *

Both Natsuki and Nao had never been so glad to see the synthetic looking white castle that the owner of the establishment probably thought would best impress kids' 12 years of age and over. Just by looking at their honey-haired companion's crimson eyes shine with delight, they knew she was easily amused. Shizuru's childish display of satisfaction made both green-eyed beauties sweat drop at her reaction.

The journey towards the amusement park was fraught with peril, especially when accompanied by the deviously mischievous Kyoto woman. Natsuki had never before known that Nao was capable of blushing in such intensity, matching her hair quite impressively. Natsuki herself, on the other hand, was sure she was doing a damn good imitation of a sun-ripe tomato.

They didn't know how the Kyoto woman managed to convince them of just walking towards the amusement park. It was a twenty-minute walk after all, and if they took the bus it would have been just 2-5 minutes tops! But no, they had opted to walking their way there. Natsuki and Nao couldn't distinctly remember agreeing with Shizuru, only that when they left Natsuki's apartment, she walked right passed the bus stop and continued on her merry way.

"It's a great day to take a stroll don't you think?" Nao and Natsuki could distinctly remember Shizuru utter in her ever so sweet and husky Kyoto-ben.

The green-eyed beauties had no choice but to follow, especially when she had that bright spark in her eyes that could probably melt the coldest of hearts. It was the biggest mistake they ever made.

It was the most exhausting 20 minutes of their lives. It wasn't only the teasing they both received from the older girl, no, they proved they could survive extreme flushes without fainting or spontaneously combust from the amount of pressure of blood rushing on their faces. No. It was from the attention that they gathered as they made their way towards the park that really got to them.

More than a dozen eyes, both male and female seemed to follow and check out not only themselves but Shizuru as well, only that the oldest of the three seemed to gather a lot more attention. Some were quite content on merely looking at her, but there were some that were stupid enough to start making catcalls and even had the gall to try and talk to Shizuru as if she would give them a time and day.

Nao and Natsuki found themselves deflecting the many idiots that tried to put the moves on Shizuru and themselves. Both green-eyed delinquents could have sworn that Shizuru enjoyed the attention that she received when they noticed a glint of amusement in her eyes as she watched them dispose of her admirers.

"_Well at least it's over now_," both green-eyed beauties sighed mentally. To think that if they didn't accompany the Kyoto woman to the amusement park, something drastic might have happened such as Shizuru actually being roped into a date!

All three lovely beauties lined up to buy tickets. Nao and Natsuki still glared daggers at some of the other people that dared to check out or even gave out a slightest hint of going to try and talk to their chestnut-haired companion. It was only when Nao and Natsuki realized and caught each other being over protective of Shizuru did they get distracted.

When they both accidentally made eye contact, they bristled against each other. A large amount of tension seemed to loom over the two as they now turned their glaring powers at each other.

"What do you think you're doing?" Natsuki hissed under her breath so that she does not upset Shizuru.

"Just protecting my interest, I could ask you the same question," Nao replied in the same tone.

"Your interest?" Natsuki's eyebrows raised in challenge.

"You heard me," Nao replied back with a smirk.

It was only when they heard a definite male voice and a certain Kyoto-ben exchange pleasantries did they cease their ever growing dispute.

"Fancy meeting you here, Shizuru-san," they heard the familiar smooth masculine voice drift not far away from them.

"Ara? I could ask you the same thing Reito-san," Shizuru smiled at her council subordinate, her smile growing when she noticed his young companion. "It's nice to see you too Mikoto."

Almost immediately, Mikoto latched herself towards Shizuru. "Ru-chan!" giving the Kyoto woman a very enthusiastic hug as she snuggled against the older woman's chest.

"Please forgive my sister, Shizuru-san, she can be too friendly at times," Reito apologized sheepishly, but he made no attempt to remove his sister from Shizuru.

"It is quite alright, Reito-san, I enjoy Mikoto's hugs." She replied back with a smile as she too returned Mikoto's affectionate hug.

Almost in an instant, Nao and Natsuki materialized by Shizuru's side.

"What's up Kanzaki?" Nao greeted, while Natsuki merely gave Reito a nod of acknowledgement.

"Greetings to you Yuuki-san, Kuga-san. I didn't know you two would also be here," Reito greeted. "Mikoto-chan and I are just here to spend some time together as brother and sister."

"Family bonding?" Natsuki supplied, but was distracted by Mikoto still clinging on to Shizuru. She tried her hardest to fight the growing jeaolousy and possesiveness that seemed to overwhelm her as she witnessed Mikoto innocently rubbed and nuzzled her face on Shizuru's ample bosom.

"Yes Kuga-san, my little sister had expressed her desire to spend some quality time with me while Mai-san is off to work," Reito answered.

"In other words, Mai conned you into babysitting Mikoto, right?" Natsuki replied good-humouredly as she tore her eyes away from the brunette and Shizuru, and once again turned her attention to Reito She already knew that her best friend had probably either guilt-tripped or sweet talked Reito into looking after Mikoto when Natsuki had refused Mai into watching over Mikoto in favor of Shizuru's plans.

Reito merely sighed in confirmation. "You know Mai-san so well," which made every one laugh in merriment.

Mikoto let go of Shizuru in order to hug both Nao and Natsuki. "Nao and Natsuki are here too!" Mikoto exclaimed as she jumped up and down in excitement. "This means we can all go together at the park!" she added happily as she glomped the two green-eyed beauties.

Nao and Natsuki looked at each other in disbelief before turning their attention to the demure looking Shizuru, who had covered her mouth with her hand to cover her amusement.

Mikoto nodded happily as she made a happy grunting sound, making her eyes light up brightly with delight, which was enough for both green-eyed girls to relent.

"We're going to have so much fun!" Mikoto once again quipped as she continued to hug both Nao and Natsuki while the two girls sighed in dismay.

From the corner of her eyes, Natsuki couldn't help but notice Reito standing suspiciously closer to Shizuru than a few moments ago, but it couldn't be could it? She looked at her redheaded rival only to notice that she too was watching Reito in suspicion.

"Well I guess it cannot be helped?" Shizuru replied back happily, making her two companions groan in dismay.

"The more the merrier," Reito agreed as he took a step closer to Shizuru.

"The more the merrier indeed," Nao replied back sarcastically while she was half-dragged by the energetic brunette.

Natsuki didn't add anything else as she too was dragged by Mikoto towards the entrance as Reito volunteered to pay for their tickets while Shizuru accompanied him.

Reito was suspiciously standing way too close to Shizuru and was acting way more freely than she was used to. Was it just her, or was it just her imagination? Was she seeing things when she saw a certain spark in those dark eyes of his when he talked to Shizuru?

"This is going to be fun!" Mikoto once again exclaimed. Unaware that Nao and Natsuki's attention was behind them, as they watched Shizuru and Reito walking too close for their liking.

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xxxxxxx

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**Author's Notes:**

Hope you liked my latest update. I apologise for the massive delay, as you could probably tell already this story is starting to have a heavy dose of writer's block just by judging the contents of the story but never fear because I believe this is only due to the rapidly approaching end of semester exams that I will have in the next couple of weeks.

You may have also noticed that I had taken the liberty of naming Nao's mom as Kuriko. Why? because I don't really know if they ever revealed Nao's mother's name in anime. If they did, please feel free to correct me so I may edit her name.

Now for a couple of replies over the recent reviews of the last chapter:

**Pretend2besome1** & **Hoppy-Chan** : About the Idea of **KFC **(Kanzaki-Fujino Club) it wasn't actually intentional, merely a coincidence that I was typing the particular chapter up when my bro had entered my room and offered me KFC and then something clicked in my food deprived state and KFC was born! (I know, I know, I thought it was sort of lame too LOL!)

**kikyo4ever** : What can I say but wow! I really enjoy your reviews and it always leaves me thinking (not a very constant event mind you ;p). I am glad that I always evoke you to write your thoughts in the review.

**To everyone else that reviewed** : I apologise for not providing individual replies to all of you but please know that I am trully grateful for your continuous support you provide. So as a little reward I will leave you readers a short teaser omake for the next chapter which is currently being written in progress:

"Why Natsuki?" Reito asked her when the silenced seemed to have become unbearable.

"Why Mai?" Shizuru couldn't help but ask defensively.

"Why not me?" Mz Kitty asked breaking Shizuru and Reito's moment.

"How did you get here?" Reito exclaimed.

"That's not important, the important thing is I'm here now!" Mz Kitty stated passionately.

"Ara? Aren't you suppose to be studying rather than promoting the next chapter?" Shizuru pointed out the to the author.

"You're so cruel Shizuru-sama!" Mz Kitty then opens the door and runs off only to fall towards the ground below but not before yelling out "But I still love you!"

Nao and Natsuki watched Mz Kitty's form fall towards the ground.

"Shizuru's fan girls gets weirder and weirder everytime." Nao stated rather boredly.

Natsuki pointedly looks at Nao. "You're telling me,"

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Lol, how did you like them apples? Well I have to go now. Thanks again to my betas who had worked really hard to correct my many many horrible grammar and tense mistakes. As for me I'm off to study and hopefully create a wonderfully twisted next chapter but since I like to procrastinate from time to time I guess I better make use of my spare time!

Mz Kitty takes the net **AshwolfX** had given her from the last chapter review and the chocolate cookie. Mz Kitty then places the Chocolate cookie on the ground and hides behind the nearby shrubbery with the net, waiting for any plot bunnies to spring on the cookie.

Thank you once again and as always please review, your reviews to me are like what mayonnaise are for Natsuki and your little suggestions actually makes it easier for me to overcome any writing blocks that I have.

**Ja Ne**


	8. Amusement Park Madness

**Summary: **

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

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**_Disclaimer:_**

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sic my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **zelene2004**. Thank you very much once again.

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

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xxxxxxx

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Nao and Natsuki weren't at all happy when Mikoto dragged them along the busy street of the amusement park. Everywhere they looked seemed to amuse the younger brunette, making her eyes go round and glassy with excitement.

Behind them were their respective school council president and her second in command. It was quite comical to see that the normally reserved Kyoto woman was as starry-eyed as their cat girl companion at the amusement park's scenery.

"Ara?" Shizuru voiced out in amazement as she saw some the rides the park had to offer. What delighted her the most was the Tea Cup ride, making her clap in unabashed happiness making her companions sweat-drop at her childish display. The rest of the group just stared at the line of people lining up for the ride, which was composed of little kids, which goes to show what type of age group the mundane ride targeted.

They had to half talk/half drag her away from the very mundane ride promising her that they will "consider" riding the giant teacups later, the key word being _consider_.

The group trudged on, exploring the expanse of the park. The park was huge and had different sections; before long, they were standing in front of one of the maps provided by the park.

"You are here," Nao read, as she pointed at the red arrow that indicated where they were at the map.

"Great work genius," Natsuki sarcastically praised the red head earning a growl from her.

Mikoto not really understanding Natsuki's remark, agreed with her. "Nao is really smart, yup!" proud that her friend had managed to find their location at the big map.

"Where exactly is here?" Shizuru asked, wanting to explore the park some more.

Reito noticing Shizuru's subtle restlessness decided to intervene. "We are at the East part of the park. This part is more about novelty gift shops and live shows."

"How did you figure that?" Natsuki asked in curiosity, wondering how Kanzaki was able to tell where they were.

"It says so right here," Reito pointed out in the map index right below the image rather smugly.

"We aren't getting anywhere," Nao grumbled. "Where does everybody want to go anyway?"

"FOOD!" Mikoto volunteered ever so happily.

"Rides," Reito suggested then stole a glance at his council superior.

"Games," Natsuki also suggested earning a nod of approval from the red headed rival. There was some sort of unvoiced challenged exchange between them as they exchanged the coldest of glares.

"They all sound like a lot of fun!" Shizuru clapped, trying to be diplomatic about the whole thing. In truth, she wanted to do them all, but they needed to prioritize their time. Either that or divide up and meet at a later time.

Natsuki immediately asked Shizuru what she wanted to do, earning her a blank look. "I really don't know, Natsuki," Shizuru answered her truthfully.

"FOOD!" Mikoto once again passionately suggested. Seeing as no one seemed to agree with her, she immediately latched on to her brother's arm. She gave him her best kitten look eyes (since she's a cat lover), making Reito cave in, patting her on the head as he did so.

"Very well Mikoto-chan, we shall go to the food court." Reito replied back to his now happily placated sister.

"Aniue is so kind!" Mikoto exclaimed happily before once again turning her attention to her other companions, "You guys are coming right?"

Nao and Natsuki exchanged a look. If Mikoto and Reito were to separate from them, then they only have to worry about each other having Shizuru's attention.

"'Fraid not squirt," Natsuki replied back as she ruffled the younger brunette's hair. "I already ate before we came here."

"Yeah me too," Nao agreed with her rival.

Mikoto then turned her best cute look at Shizuru, pleading her to come along with her and her brother, but before Shizuru could answer Mikoto, both Nao and Natsuki latched on to her arms.

"We're going back to that Tea Cup ride, right Shizuru?" Natsuki blurted out when she saw that Shizuru was about to give in to Mikoto's cute pleading look.

"Yeah, you go and grab some food, Mikoto, and just meet us there if you'd like," Nao suggested as she tried to persuade the young girl to take her leave, taking her charismatic brother with her.

Shizuru on the other hand wasn't really sure of what was going on, but if her two lovely green-eyed beauties seemed determined to go to the rides first, then she would oblige them. Besides, it felt nice having the two deviants cling to her so affectionately.

"I guess we'll just have to meet up at the rides section then," Shizuru agreed before turning her attention towards Reito, "You have my contact number, right?"

Reito merely nodded. He could just call her if he and Mikoto couldn't find them. Reito always had Shizuru's number in case of a council emergency. He had Haruka's and Yukino's as well, though he preferred to text Haruka instead or risk having her rave and rant on the other line.

So with a few final arrangements of where to meet and what time, Reito and Mikoto dislodged themselves from the other women and headed off to the food section of the amusement park, leaving the other three to their own devices.

"So I guess it's the rides for us then, ne?" Shizuru clapped happily. She couldn't wait to ride the teacups; she had her mind set on riding the purple one with flowers adorning the rim.

Natsuki and Nao couldn't help but mentally groan. They knew exactly where the Kyoto beauty's mind was. The ride itself was too childish and boring for their tastes, but they had no choice but navigate their way towards the evil ride.

Thankfully, to get to the rides section, they had to pass the games section of the park in which the two green eyed beauties took advantage of. They sampled almost every game booth competing like crazy. Between the two of them, they had gathered a lot of prizes. Of course being the cool girls that they were, they couldn't afford to carry such cute prizes, which Shizuru happily carried for them, cuddling the cute little stuffed toys as they continued on their merry way.

One particular booth caught Shizuru's eye though; it was a traditional goldfish catching one, where if one manages to catch a goldfish with the thin paper gauze as a net, then they get to keep the fish. Seeing Shizuru's eyes grow in interest at the game, Natsuki and Nao began to take the game on, both confident to catch a fish for Shizuru.

Natsuki tried first, her eyes trained on the fishes that were swimming unaware under water in what looked like a miniature version of a bathtub. Seeing her opportunity, she launched her attack. With lightning speed of agility, Natsuki's net broke through the calm water; unfortunately, not a mere second later her gauze broke, and the fish it contained dropped into the water almost taunting her as it swam merrily to join it's fishy comrades. Oblivious to her thwarted victory.

"Better luck next time," the barker consoled her, while Nao smirked triumphantly.

"Let me show you how a real expert does it," Nao haughtily replied as she took her turn.

Like Natsuki, she trained her eyes swimming in the water, and when the opportunity struck, she took it. Her net broke through the water, but once again, the fish, which was bouncing on the gauze, slipped off and dropped back to the water to join its friends.

"An expert, huh?" Natsuki couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at Nao's failure.

"I didn't see you do any better!" Nao quickly retaliated.

"Now, now ladies, there is no need to fight you could always try again." The barker replied back amused of the pretty girls' antics. Secretly, he was happy that these girls had shown interest in his booth because his booth now gathered a significant amount of attention from the other people. These beautiful girls brought good business to him, and if he could manage to make them linger longer then it will definitely improve his profit.

"Ara, may I give it a try?" Shizuru asked almost shyly to the barker, which earned her incredulous looks from her pretty companions.

The barker couldn't help but smile at the girl, but he doubted this one would do any better than her friends. She looked too prim and too proper, and she didn't look like she possessed the same typed of agility and reflexes her friends had.

"Are you sure, little lady?" The barker asked.

Shizuru handed her money to the barker and gave him a warm smile. "I'm sure," she said as she handed the plushies she carried to Nao and Natsuki.

The barker shrugged and handed Shizuru her net as she took her place and watched the fish swimming in the water in interest. To the barker's and her companions' shock, Shizuru moved faster than Nao and Natsuki combined and managed to catch a fish for which the barker gave her a small bowl of water to place the fish in.

Seeing the fish swim alone in the bowl and her own moist gauzy net, something moved Shizuru as her hand holding the handle of the gauze net tightened.

"Shizuru, you wouldn't," Natsuki mouthed under her breath.

"You couldn't," Nao seconded.

Displaying the same speed she had before, her net tore through the water and once again caught a fish, but because the gauze was already wet, it began to rip the paper gauze. Shizuru displayed her quick reflexes once again as she managed to catch the fish in the small bowl before the fish hit the water below.

A heartbeat later, she heard loud cheers and claps of admiration and amusement from behind her from the people who had been watching them. Even the barker looked proud and a little awed at such magnificent display.

"Show off," Nao grumbled, but secretly admiring how well Shizuru pulled off the feat.

Natsuki, on the other hand, had to ask why. Shizuru clearly had won, but why did she have to take such a risky move. "But Shizuru why would you…" but she was cut off when Shizuru showed her the small bowl with the now two swimming fishes.

"She doesn't look lonely now," Shizuru explained softly.

Nao and Natsuki felt their heartstrings being tugged by the few and sincere words. Shizuru's words filtered through them, as they understood a deeper meaning in them.

"Well done little lady," the barker praised her, then without another word added another fish in the bowl. "Just to make it fair," as he looked at the three of them with a massive grin adorning his aged face. "Come by again!" the barker encourage as more people began to pay him to try the game and hopefully perform the same feat as the Kyoto woman.

"Ara? We have three fishes now," Shizuru happily pointed out as she watched the three fishes swimming in the bowl mindlessly. "How cute!" She exclaimed as she watched the fishes swim around the bowl.

"They look the same to me," Nao nonchalantly commented.

"Don't be silly Nao-san, they are completely different." Shizuru admonished the redhead. When both of the green-eyed beauties looked at the Kyoto woman quizzically, Shizuru smiled enigmatically. "It's in their eyes and the way they swim!"

"Yeah whatever," Natsuki shrugged her shoulders, and then spied a ball throwing game. She saw that one of the prizes was a cute white and grey husky plush puppy, which immediately gained her interest.

She led her companions to the game booth, wanting to own the plush puppy. One gets three attempts at the game. The game had a stack of a pyramid bottles and one has to knock all the bottles off the stand. Nao, not really interested in the game, didn't try and compete with Natsuki. Instead, she planned to distract her rival.

After Natsuki had paid the barker, she eyed the bottles in deep concentration. Her tongue was in between her teeth as she estimated how much strength she had to put in her throw.

She pulled her hand back, her body ready for the throw, when Nao coughed something underneath her breath that distracted her.

"cough MAYO cough"

It was already too late, since the last minute distraction by Nao had affected the trajectory of the ball. The ball completely missed the bottles, but rebounded. Natsuki ducked when she saw the impending ball, but Nao, who was standing behind her, wasn't so lucky and got hit on the forehead.

"Ara?" Shizuru cried out in mild alarm as she witnessed Nao fall rather comically from the ball's impact.

Natsuki only looked at Nao without sympathy. "That's karma." She pointed out rather haughtily.

Nao could only growl in response and stood beside Shizuru in case anymore of Natsuki's renegade balls ended up hitting her.

As Natsuki once again tried to concentrate for her second attempt, Shizuru's cooing filtered through her mind. From her peripheral vision, she saw Shizuru trying to sooth Nao injury.

"Does it hurt, Nao-san?" Shizuru asked in concern as she gingerly touched the angry red mark on the redhead's forehead. She had placed the fish bowl on the table to better examine the young girl's injury.

Nao, noticing Natsuki subtly looking, decided to lay it a bit thick on Shizuru. "Uh huh," she nodded, faking tears.

"There, there, Nao-san, would you like me to kiss it better?" she heard Shizuru's teasing tone and she could only bet she was smiling rather mischievously too judging from the way she spoke to the red headed deviant.

Natsuki growled at Nao's display and since her attention was on her companions, when she threw the ball, it ended up hitting the barker.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" the barker cried out in both suprise and pain.

Natsuki apologized sheepishly at the disgruntled barker and pleaded to continue the game when the barker offered her a refund.

Nao couldn't help but smirk as she muttered "Karma, huh?" underneath her breath since she knew Natsuki heard.

Natsuki tried to block out her whole environment and unnecessary distractions and concentrated hard on the bottles in her sight. Finally, her concentration had paid off as she hit the middle of the bottle pyramid square in the middle, knocking all the bottles off. Natsuki couldn't help but whoop in delight as the barker handed her the husky plush puppy.

"Congratulations, Natsuki," Shizuru praised her then nudged Nao to do the same.

"Yeah, what she said," Nao grumbled, slightly disappointed that Natsuki won. She thought for sure those bottles were superglued or something.

As the trio walked away from the game booth, the puzzled looking barker examined the fallen bottles. "Next time, I'll buy those named brand super glues instead of a cheaper alternative."

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To both the green-eyed beauties dismay, they had finally reached their original destination, which was the teacup ride. Both girls prayed earnestly to themselves for some sort of divine intervention to postpone the inevitable. Apparently, their prayers had been heard as Mikoto happily cried out to them and made a beeline dash towards them followed by her brother at a more moderate pace.

To Nao and Natsuki's chagrin, Mikoto completely ignored them, but instead glomped Shizuru. It was a good thing that Shizuru was pretty quick and lifted the fish bowl before the wild raven-haired brunette glomped on to her, or else she might have dropped her most precious prize.

Mikoto didn't waste anytime to snuggle up to Shizuru's "girls", relishing their comfortable softness and scent. "Soft," Mikoto sighed in appreciation as she nuzzled her head on her ample bosom.

Nao and Natsuki could only stand there and watch as Reito finally joined their side. He offered Natsuki a bag, which Natsuki accepted with a puzzled look.

"I took the liberty of purchasing some food for you guys as well. I just thought that you lovely ladies might be famished by now," Reito answered Natsuki's inquisitive frown with his usual charming voice. Natsuki knew that if she were one of those naïve girls who didn't know any better, she would have fallen for his smooth charm and good looks.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Mikoto had noticed that her affectionate hug was not returned and looked inquisitively up to Shizuru, who rewarded her with a warm smile. Mikoto noticed the bowl she carried just a few inches from her head and immediately stepped back to let Shizuru hold the bowl properly, giving her an opportunity to study the three goldfishes swimming in the bowl.

"Is it food?" Mikoto asked curiously. She had seen the same fishes before and wondered if the other girl wanted to cook the fishes. She frowned at the thought. If Shizuru was going to cook the fishes, she would need bigger ones, ones that she could easily get/catch if they go to the beach like last time before the HiME carnival.

Shizuru watched the young raven-haired girl in mild shock, almost snatching the bowl away from Mikoto, but controlled herself.

"Mikoto-chan, Suki-chan, Yuuki-chan and Ru-chan are not food. They are my new pets," she explained patiently to the younger girl.

"You named them?" Nao asked in surprise.

"Of course I did, Nao-san. How else can I tell them apart? I can't just call them fish one, fish two or fish three, now can I?"

"Will you eat them when they get bigger?" Mikoto asked once again as she watched the fish swimming around the bowl curiously.

"No, Mikoto-chan, I won't." Shizuru assured the other girl as she patted her head.

"It seems that you ladies had a lot of fun while myself and Mikoto were gone," Reito interrupted, eyeing the prizes they carried in interest.

"You can say that," Shizuru gave him a mysterious smile in which he returned equally.

"Why don't you ladies take a break for a while and eat somewhere. As I already informed Kuga-san, I had taken the liberty of purchasing some food for you," Reito gallantly requested.

"You are so thoughtful, Reito-san," Shizuru replied back before turning to her companions, "Why not? Let us sit over there at the nearby benches," she helpfully pointed out.

The group then took a collective break, with Natsuki and Nao narrating to Reito what they had been up to before they met up again. Mikoto stayed by Shizuru's side and from time to time asked for a portion of Shizuru's food.

It wasn't long before their little group had once again resumed their escapades, and much to Natsuki and Nao's chagrin, they still ended up riding the teacup ride. Unfortunately for them, Mikoto had latched on to Shizuru and had ridden the teacup Shizuru had her eye on (the purple tea cup with flowers on the rim) together, so the green-eyed beauties found themselves in each other's company once more, since the ride was only a two-seater ride anyways. A glance at the other teacup cheered Natsuki up a bit as she found that Reito was roped into riding the mundane ride as well, but he sat by himself.

The ride jolted with a mild start, slowly spinning.

"Now I know how Shizuru's green tea feels like," Natsuki couldn't help but groan out as they began to spin at a moderate pace, that is until she heard Mikoto shout out enthusiastically. "FASTER!"

Nao shared the very same sentiment as well, as the other riders began to shout out as well, demanding that the ride go faster.

Now initially, Natsuki had no problem with this since she enjoyed the wind on her face but not after eating a meal and spinning around in a circle. The ride controller relented and had pushed the switch button, making the ride spin faster.

"FASTER! FASTER!" Mikoto squealed in delight, laughing merrily not noticing that her companion slowly turned green.

"WOOOH!" Nao shouted her appreciation as well while she gave Natsuki a massive grin, that is until she felt her stomach churn uncomfortably but pushed the feeling aside. There was no way she was going to throw up, not when she was with her rival.

Natsuki met Nao's grin with her own, shrugging off the sickness she felt. From her peripheral vision, she saw Reito being swished around in his own tea cup, trying to grab something to hold on to since the ride wasn't meant to be a fast paced ride, so there wasn't any handle bars. He looked rather pale, and Natsuki felt a small twinge of sympathy for the broody fellow, but resumed her staring contest with her redheaded companion. All the while hearing Mikoto's joyous cries.

"FASTER! FASTER! WOOOOH!"

Needless to say, when the ride had finished the people of the ride were rather wobbly on their feet. Natsuki was sure her vision was still spinning as she tried to right her self and not meet the ground unceremoniously. She noticed that Nao was trying to hold her own as well as she tried to grab hold on something to keep her from getting to know the ground more intimately. Natsuki had to admit that she was rather surprised that Nao was able to keep the contents of her stomach quite well, given such circumstances and even managed to give Natsuki one of her damnable grins.

Not too far from them was Shizuru, who held her one arm on her stomach and the other on her mouth, probably trying to keep the contents of her stomach at bay followed closely by the still hyperactive Mikoto while Reito was suspiciously nowhere to be seen.

"That was fun, yup!" Mikoto greeted Nao and Natsuki who didn't look as good as the wild girl. When she didn't hear the same sentiments from the two girls, she turned her attention to Shizuru, her eyes asking the same question she recently asked her companions.

Shizuru took a while to respond, making sure that she had enough self-control to safely speak without gagging. "Yes, Mikoto, the ride was indeed…interesting," and while she still adored the first couple of minutes of the ride before it spun rather out of control along with her stomach, she wouldn't mind riding the ride again provided that the ride stayed at a reasonable pace.

Mikoto smiled brilliantly, hearing the acknowledgement she needed. From the corner of her eyes she had noticed her brother emerging not too far away and wiping his mouth rather disdainfully with a handkerchief.

Mikoto's smile grew even wider when she thought of something brilliant. "LET'S ALL GO AGAIN!"

A collective shout of "NO!" followed by various protests from her companions dampened Mikoto's spirits a little, but Mikoto didn't let the feeling keep her down for too long. After all, there were other rides.

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Their next destination ended up at the bumper car ride. Natsuki and Nao looked at each other rather evilly as both sported their own wicked grins, as there was a silent agreement that seemed to have formed between them. Mikoto, on the other hand, was watching the people ahead of them in the line as they took their turn and watching the other riders in unrepressed glee and even cheering the unknown people on.

Shizuru and Reito, on the other hand, were talking amongst themselves before being interrupted by Mikoto.

"This is fun, yup!" she excitedly told them as their group waited their turn.

Before Shizuru or Reito could reply back, it was their turn, and their group began to make way towards the bumper cars, choosing their vehicle. There was no surprise that Natsuki hopped on a blue one; while right in front of her, Nao chose the red vehicle. Shizuru managed to find a purple one, Reito a black one and Mikoto a yellow one. Each person was scattered around the around the track. Spying on her companions' determined evil grins on each other, Shizuru took it upon herself to warn them.

"Nao, Natsuki, there's really no need to bump. Just sit back and enjoy the ride." She told her companions, but her words of advice were left on deaf ears as Nao and Natsuki eyed each other predatorily. Shizuru could only sigh in dismay.

Hearing the shrill sound of a whistle followed by the music, the people started their engines. Natsuki and Nao didn't waste anytime and went head to head on each other. Stepping heavily on the accelerator, they both made a beeline for each other. The force of impact between their cars made the two girls jolt back rather painfully in their seats, but that didn't stop them from trying to maim each other with their own bumper cars as they once again resumed crashing against each other, determined to pin each other's cars in the corner.

Shizuru, in the meanwhile, lost control of her car and was having trouble trying to get it in the right direction. Help came when she saw Reito drive by her and reached out to grab hold of her wheel but failed when her own car bumped against his, sending him not too far away from her. Reito was then forced to shout instructions to help her control the vehicle only to be bumped away by Mikoto, who was driving her car backwards and screaming her glee.

"WOOOH!" Mikoto cried out as she passed them and bumped into the other vehicles.

Shizuru found herself out of control and before she knew it, she was in the middle of Nao and Natsuki's duel.

"WATCH OUT!" Natsuki cried out in alarm when she saw Shizuru in her path.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Nao cried out and tried to swerve away only to be propelled further by the backward driving Mikoto.

"WOOOH!"

Reito tried his best and bump Shizuru's car away but he was already far too late. He ended up hitting Natsuki's car and before they knew it, their group had managed to create a pile-up with Shizuru in the middle. The other cars had also locked them in, and soon disgruntled people began to voice their concerns.

"BACK-UP IDIOTS!"

"NO! YOU BACK UP!"

"MOVE DAMN IT!

"BAKA!"

"WOOOH!"

Natsuki sighed. This was going to be a long day.

-----

After the bruise inducing bumper car ride, the group then began to head off to another location, one in particular, was the Ferris wheel ride.

They stood in line waiting to have their turn on one of the booths. Nao and Natsuki had apparently started to have a heated argument over something while Mikoto watched them amusedly. Reito, on the other hand, had used this little distraction to approach one of the ride controllers responsible for closing the carriages and making sure that the doors were secure before the next batch of people to enter the next carriage.

Each carriage can actually fit 4 people in it, but Reito had other ideas. Slipping the controller a 1000yen and gesturing where Shizuru stood amusedly watching Nao and Natsuki argue, the controller pocketed the money and gave him the affirmative.

When it was their group's turn, Reito had deliberately engrossed Shizuru into a conversation about the council while Nao, Mikoto and Natsuki boarded the carriage. Once Natsuki was seated, the girls waited for Shizuru to enter the carriage, but they were surprised when the controller closed the door and the carriage moved, leaving Shizuru and Reito in each other's company.

"Why that sneak!" Nao couldn't help but cry out as she joined Natsuki by the door and watched Reito guide Shizuru to the other carriage.

"We're moving!" Mikoto enthusiastically pointed out as she watched the scenery from the window.

"I have the right mind right now to spit at him!" Nao angrily retorted ignoring Mikoto. She started formulating plans on how to spit on the unsuspecting vice president when their carriage was under her sights.

"You might hit Shizuru!" Natsuki warned, but inwardly shared Nao's mood.

"Nao, Natsuki? Why are you guys upset?" Mikoto asked since her friends didn't seem like they were enjoying the ride. The two green-eyed beauties ignored her, so she let her gaze drift to where their gazes were.

Mikoto's gaze landed on the carriage behind them, containing Shizuru and her brother alone in the carriage. Mikoto smiled as she enthusiastically began to call and wave at them.

"Aniue! Shizuru!" She called out unaware of her companions' dark mood as they glared daggers at the other carriage, more specifically at Reito.

-------

Reito, on the other hand, waved back at his sister and couldn't help but inwardly smirk at the glares he received from the other two underclasswomen.

Shizuru sat opposite of him and was slightly suspicious at being found herself alone in his company. If she didn't know any better, she would assume that Reito had something to with this.

"Don't frown like that, Shizuru-san, it makes it seem like you do not enjoy my company," Reito teased the gorgeous Kyoto woman he was with, earning him a smile from her.

"Ara? You know that I always enjoy your company Reito-san," she smiled at him as she banished the frown from her features.

"I am glad," Reito replied back as he studied her features carefully. It was always hard to read if Shizuru actually meant some of the words she replied to him.

Like himself, Fujino Shizuru was hard to read. There is always something lurking behind those well-placed smiles of hers just like his.

For Shizuru, however, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable to be with him. It had been so long since they had spent time together alone and they were never really left alone for long periods of time. The conversations they always had were either about the council and always light. Nothing with real depth or seriousness, but Shizuru had a feeling that Reito had something to tell her judging from the look of determination and seriousness in his eyes.

"Why Natsuki?" Reito asked her when the silenced seemed to have become unbearable. The question caught her completely off guard and made the silence in the carriage thicker and heavier than before.

"Why Mai?" Shizuru couldn't help but ask defensively at the manner of his questioning, effectively evading his question, as the ride continued its slow cycle.

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**Author's Notes:**

I hope you liked the latest update. Many thanks to everyone who had continued to support and read my writing. Thank you very much.

To **EnhaDyone** - I just couldn't help but reply to your review. The earlier chapters in the story were filled with more angst and feelings and I thought I should give readers something more cheerful to read since I myself isn't an angsty person. Rest assured that the characters feelings will be explored as this story progresses and I am glad to have your support. (smiles)

To **Kikyo4Ever** - What can I say but say WOW! I really enjoy reading your review and find myself speechless trying to think of a reply that doesnt reveal my intended plotline for this story,but I'm always tempted to when I read your reviews just to clear things up. I suppose I should really hold a tight reign on my self-control ne? As for Nao and Natsuki being totally alike, I didn't mean to express that perception. I know that Natsuki and Nao are both individual people and there are some parts of their characteristic and personalities that are polar opposites but I do find myself drawn to their more similar personalities for some reason, that's probably why I write them the way I do. And as for writing Shiz/Nat fiction I say why not?

To **Tomoyo-chan** - I am sorry that this story did not reach your expectations but then again I can't please everybody. As for the question if I hate Natsuki the answer is plain no. Why would I hate Natsuki? If I hated Natsuki, I would have either not written her in the story at all or described her with utmost hate and loathing and trying to convince readers of this story to feel what I feel. But I still appreciate the review and this reply was in no way a come back or attack to your review. Merely a reply to your question.

To **Renny-Chan** - Even though you can no longer beta my work for me, I'd like to mention a big Thank you for betaing this story (the past chapters) for me. I'd like to thank you here and wish you well with your studies. (smiles)

To **Everyone else** - Thanks again for the review and support. It really is appreciated and humbled by your praise. I'd also like to thank my two betas for always having the time to lend me a hand and help edit my many, many grammatical and tense mistakes. Its a very difficult job to have correcting my mistakes and helping me with my writing thats why **zelene2004 **and** renny-chan **needs a special thanks from me and everyone who had enjoyed reading this story.

With that all said and done, I really do hope you enjoyed the story. Here's a little preview for the next chapter:

The Ferris wheel

House of Mirrors

Boat Ride

House of Horrors

Fireworks

Please tune in next time and find out what happens next.

**Ja Ne**


	9. The Madness ends as a new one begins

****

Summary:

_Kuga Natsuki thought this is what she really wanted. She had told Fujino Shizuru about her feelings but never about how Shizuru's love for her scared her beyond anything she could ever know. But Natsuki will soon find out that there are worst things in life than Shizuru's love... And that's loosing her love._

_**Disclaimer:**_

I do not own Mai Hime or the characters. They are owned by **Sunrise** and various Companies, Productions and Corporations. I am only a fan who is writing for leisure. So please get your lawyers out of my house before I sic my dogs at them.. I am simply an insomniac anime **amateur** writer who can't find any decent sleep.

This story is slightly AU and may contain some OOC. **This is my first time writing a Mai Hime fic so please be kind**.

This story is beta-ed by **zelene2004**. Thank you very much once again. It is because of this wonderful person that you readers aren't suffering from headaches caused by my unrefined writing. Lol

I've only seen the Anime Subbed Mai HiME so my knowledge of Mai HiME is limited so please be kind with the criticisms.

_Italics_ means thoughts

* * *

**xxxxxxx**

* * *

"Why Natsuki?" Reito asked her when the silence seemed to have become unbearable. The question caught her completely off guard and made the silence in the carriage thicker and heavier than before.

"Why Mai?" Shizuru couldn't help but ask defensively at the manner of his questioning, effectively evading his question as the ride continued its slow cycle.

Reito remained quiet for some time. Not long ago, he had to admit he had felt the same attraction towards the woman before him. Who wouldn't?

She was perfect in every way, a woman who was perfectly suited for him. But it wasn't only because of her perfect image that drew him to her like a moth to a flame, it was because of the challenge she presented. Back in their early years, he could have any woman he wanted, and he still could. He was constantly surrounded by women who vied for his attentions yet Fujino Shizuru remained aloof. She had caught his interest, and for a short time, he pursued her.

As he spent a great deal of time trying to get to know her to win her affections, it was then that his affections grew. Fujino Shizuru wasn't like any other woman he had ever met, she was interesting and mysterious all at the same time. He had also found out that he had liked her aloof personality and that they shared a couple of interests. She had a great mind that was well hidden underneath such mesmerizing ruby eyes. She was beautiful, mysterious and alluring, and Reito found himself spellbound.

For a short moment in time, he had managed to succeed. He and Shizuru dated secretly, though it was quite short, and it was bittersweet in its brevity. He felt alive when he was with her and had never once regretted being with her, and while he would never admit out loud that he missed her, her friendship and companionship was enough for him.

For a moment, Reito didn't speak as memories began to flash through his mind's eye. For a moment, Shizuru had thought Reito had dropped the subject until she heard him speak.

"She's not like you," Reito answered vaguely which was indeed the truth. Fujino Shizuru wasn't like Tokiha Mai. Mai was bubbly, vibrant and had her heart on her sleeve, willing to take risks and make mistakes while Shizuru kept her perfect image and her feelings well hidden and locked. Even when they had been together, Reito could barely melt the ice surrounding Shizuru's heart.

Shizuru closed her eyes, uncomfortable looking through Reito's dark ones. There were just too many emotions in those dark eyes of his. Too many emotions that still affected her till this very day.

Shizuru found herself remembering their early years. Images of their short time together briefly flashed through her mind, and while they were pleasant memories, she could feel her heart constrict and her stomach churn from the amount of emotions that were running through her.

Back then she did care for Reito, but it wasn't enough. She didn't have the same passion for Reito that she had found in Kuga Natsuki. Natsuki made her feel alive while Reito made her feel caged. Reito made her feel that she had to keep up her perfect image and lies she had created or risk being rejected by him, and in turn be a disappointment to her parents.

Shizuru closed her eyes as she remembered the unpleasant feeling of being trapped in her own web of lies. Her parents had found out of their brief relationship and had encouraged her to be with him. They had shown great favour on him, and it made her stomach churn. Every time they were together she felt a great amount of guilt, especially when she saw how much he was slowly falling for the lie that she had presented. She knew Reito only wanted her for her body back then, wanted the trophy girlfriend to show off his friends and to be honest, she wanted Reito for the exact same reasons too at the time.

Reito was the perfect guy she can show off to her parents, to be praised for another achievement of garnering such attentions from a fine young man like Kanzaki Reito. But as time grew by, so did their fake relationship. It started building its foundations until finally, trust was established. She found that Reito was a great companion and friend. That was why it was so hard to let him know that that was exactly what they should remain. She saw a lot of herself in Reito, and she knew deep down in her heart that she and Reito would never be.

Shizuru smiled bitterly at his reply. Mai was indeed not her for the very same reason Natsuki wasn't him. Not just in the way of physicality but on a deep emotional level. They didn't share that special bond, the same passion and all consuming feelings she felt when she was with Natsuki, and she doubts she ever will.

"And she's not you," Shizuru answered in full honesty which made him sigh despondently.

He gave her an awkward grin, "We could have been so good together you and I," he sighed dejectedly as he ran his fingers roughly through his thick dark hair. "We are so alike."

"And that's why we cannot be together," she finished softly. "You don't really care for me," she continued but had to stop when she saw a brief flash of pain in his eyes at her poorly chosen words.

"Not in that way," she tried to apologize for her careless words. "You may care for me as a friend, but I cannot offer you anything more, or I would risk putting our friendship on the line. I have such few friends that I cannot loose you as one," she answered him as she had let her emotions free to convey her honesty. He deserved the truth at the very least.

Seeing the bitterness and hurt in Shizuru's eyes, Reito felt himself moved by her words. He really does care for her, but if she didn't feel the same way then there was no point in trying to pursue her any further. He had pursued her before, and he tried his best to try and gain her affections, but it was in vain. All he can offer her now was his friendship, and for him it would be good enough.

He reached out to comfort her, capturing her cold hands within his warm ones as she lifted her chin to meet his dark eyes. Their eyes communicated what their words couldn't say, and a silent agreement and understanding formed between them.

Reito brushed off one of the tears that managed to escape her eyes with his thumb, but his hand remained upon her face. The temptation to kiss her was far too great, but he controlled his urge. His thumb remained upon her smooth skin, caressing her cheek intimately. He could not be with her the way he wanted to, but at least he could stand beside her. So instead, he lifted her hands against his lips and planted a soft kiss upon her knuckles. It was probably the last intimate kiss he would be able to give her.

For Shizuru, the tension inside the carriage was far too great for her to handle. She knew she had hurt him and in doing so, she had also hurt herself. Reito had become one of her closest friend since she had set foot in Fuuka, but she was glad that he understood her wishes. She had seen the spark of desire in his eyes, and for a moment she was afraid that he would kiss her just like before when they were together.

She was surprised however when she felt his trembling lips brush across her knuckles. In a way, he was giving up his claim of her. She could only give him a small smile as her left hand touched his cheek, in which he leaned into to prolong her touch. It was a bittersweet moment for them that was to be broken when the carriage door was rudely and violently opened by their companions.

Apparently, while they were so caught up with their past memories and gravity of their emotions the ride had ended. It appeared that her lovely companions had seen everything and as soon as the ride ended, both Nao and Natsuki scrambled off their carriage to pry their two upperclassman/woman apart.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING?!" Natsuki furiously demanded, glaring daggers at Reito and his hand that still held Shizuru's.

Nao, on the other hand, was seething. Her eyes zeroed on Shizuru's hand still on Reito's face while the other hand was still held by his. She glowered at the two.

Their violent outburst, however, was pushed aside when Mikoto came bursting forth, shoving her two companions aside and glomped on to her brother.

"Did you see how high up we were aniue?" Mikoto asked obliviously, too excited to care about the scene she had broken. "The people looked like ants!"

"Hai, Mikoto-chan," Reito replied back as he finally released his hold upon Shizuru's hands and patted his sister's head as though everything was fine and normal in the world, as though the heavy tension and melancholy scene a few moments ago never happened.

Reito couldn't help but inwardly smirk. Is this how Shizuru always felt whenever they were together back then? The feeling of heavy tension that seems to crush your very being? If so, he felt humbled that at least Shizuru had been kind to him and spared his feelings.

"Hey! Don't ignore us!" Nao cried out, not pleased at being ignored.

"You still haven't answered my question!" Natsuki pointed out.

"There was something on Reito-san's cheek, I was simply wiping it away," Shizuru shrugged as she once again retained her composure when in truth, her heart wouldn't stop pounding within her ribcage as though it was going to burst out because of the pressure it exerted itself with.

Seeing that her two beautiful companions will not let the scene go, she decided to distract them instead. "Ara? Are my two green-eyed beauties jealous of Reito-kun?"

"'Kun'? Since when had he become 'Kun'?!"

"I am _NOT_ jealous!"

"Aniue, why are Nao and Natsuki turning red?"

"Ara? You both look so adorable!" Shizuru broadly smiled in amusement as she clapped her hands together in delight.

"NOT JEALOUS!"

Reito remained impassive about the whole scene and simply watched with veiled eyes of how lovely and happy Shizuru truly looked being surrounded by the people she cared about. It brought tremendous delight to his heart to see her smile openly with them, and he was glad that he could witness her being so happy and carefree even if he was now and always would be a friend to her.

* * *

Nao couldn't help but grumble as their group headed towards their next destination. From time to time, she kept glaring at the handsome man that stood beside Mikoto, glad that there was now a considerable distance between Reito and Shizuru since she and Kuga now stood beside her, Natsuki to her left and herself to the right, effectively creating distance between them.

She still couldn't help but feel irritable that she had overlooked Kanzaki Reito's presence. She was still curious as to what really went on in the Ferris Wheel ride, but she wasn't about to give up her claim on the Kyoto woman. Kanzaki's little stunt only made her realize that she can also have the same opportunity to get Shizuru for herself without the unwanted company with just a little manipulation. Thus, she began planning on how to ditch the rest of the group.

Natsuki, on the other hand, was still bothered by what happened earlier but couldn't voice her concern to her chestnut-haired friend without making herself look like a fool. The added company also didn't help the matter. So now, she found herself walking beside Shizuru brooding over the matter. Thoughts about the rumors between Shizuru and Reito kept flashing through her mind, and even though she had witnessed the intimate scene between them with her own eyes, she still couldn't believe that there could be something more between them. She just couldn't bring herself to believe them.

Before the group knew it, they were standing before a short line towards a building structure. The bold cursive writing was certainly inviting as well as the added design images of mirrors.

"Welcome!" The barker greeted them, "to the House of Mirrors!"

Nao simply smiled a Cheshire grin as she looked at the building. She had just figured out how to get Shizuru to herself. After all, deception had always been one of her many fortés.

* * *

The group entered the dark and shadowy entrance of the building. Shizuru slightly shivered from the atmosphere while Nao subtly moved closer to her side while she continued to chat with Mikoto.

As they proceeded onwards, they were greeted by various mirrors ranging in size and shape, altering their reflections quite comically. Mikoto didn't waste anytime as she began making comical gestures and faces at each individual mirror. She even managed to get her brother and Natsuki to join her thoroughly amused by hers and the others' reflections.

Nao, on the other hand, made it a point to stay close to Shizuru, so close in fact that their clothes kept brushing against each other as they continued to inspect the mirrors with curious delight. Unbeknownst to the others, Nao had been to a similar attraction before from her previous activities (conning unexpected guys on dates) so she knew that the mirrors provided illusions that made the guests unaware that they were stepping through a maze. If you didn't stay close to your companions, you can easily loose them, that's why she kept close to Shizuru.

As Nao predicted, it didn't take long for them to get separated. Nao and Shizuru soon found themselves surrounded by their companions' reflection on each mirror that surrounded them, a scene that made Nao smirk. This is usually when the entertainment starts since the reflections began to play with the people's minds.

Shizuru was in utter turmoil despite the fact that she had been having fun minutes before. She closed her eyes and began to take a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm and appear unreadable to her red-headed companion, trying to push away her feelings of pain and heartache.

She was surrounded by Natsuki's lovely image. One would think that being surrounded by such an image wouldn't be such a bad thing, but what made her heart pound painfully was the look of distraught in Natsuki's face as she began looking around for her companions. She wanted to call out to her and engulf her in her arms to comfort her when she felt Nao's hand upon her forearm.

"It wouldn't do to try and call out to them, your voice will only cause an echo which will confuse them even more," Nao advised her already knowing what Shizuru was about to do.

* * *

Natsuki, however, wanted to scream in fury and frustration. For some reason, she and the others had become separated when she had let Mikoto talked her into playing around with the mirrors. She was too engrossed by their comical reflection that she had never noticed Nao led Shizuru ahead of them.

Now, she found herself surrounded by mirrors but that didn't bother her. What bothered her the most was the fact that the images in the mirror displayed Nao with Shizuru by themselves. It was as though the reflections mocked her by showing her one of her inner worst fears.

* * *

"I believe we have lost the others," Shizuru told her redheaded companion while trying to fight the urge to rush and find Natsuki and comfort her; instead, she paused from their stride making Nao pause as well.

Nao replied nonchalantly, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, we can just try and find our way out and meet them outside. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"But…" Shizuru's protest died in her throat as she felt Nao reach for her hand and led her deeper through the hall.

"The faster we find a way out of here, the faster they'll catch up to us. Besides that's the point of this attraction anyway, the more we linger here, the more the images will play tricks on your mind," Nao explained as she held onto Shizuru's hand securely but not too tightly. She couldn't help but smile at the softness of her hand against her own, and it somehow felt right that she was with her. The fact that Shizuru didn't refuse her or retract her hand also made her feelings soar.

Shizuru found truth in Nao's words. She couldn't take anymore of the mocking images of her beautiful Natsuki that surrounds them. It made it harder for her to breathe, and it made her heart constrict painfully. She couldn't bare and look at the images any longer. So without further more delay, she obediently followed Nao. She felt a small smile grace her lips when she felt Nao reassuringly squeezed her hand as though trying to calm her down without further words exchanged between them.

* * *

The images of Nao and Shizuru walking away together hand in hand, made Natsuki's heart stop as she felt her eyes sting painfully.

_It can't be, the mirrors are lying, _she thought to herself_,_ yet the images continued to haunt her until she was surrounded by nothing, darkness now reflected the mirrors.

Natsuki fell on her knees as a tumult of emotions began to assail her. The possibility in those images brought tremendous pain to her. Soon all she could hear was the faint echo of someone's approach and a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. She looked up at the person who dared disturb her anguish only to be surprised to be greeted by Kanzaki Reito's concerned face. Right next to him was his sister Mikoto who was looking at her in curiosity and concern.

"What's wrong Natsuki?" Mikoto asked her friend who looked like she was on the verge of tears when a moment ago they were laughing freely at her their pot-bellied, short reflections as well as the other mirrors that displayed their images comically.

Natsuki looked at her younger friend's eyes and saw genuine concern within them. It made even harder for her to explain the pain that she experiencing. Mikoto was too young and too innocent to understand the concept and depth of her feelings. The fact that Reito was there to witness her vulnerable form only made her lock up her insecurities even more.

She didn't want him to see how vulnerable she was, and yet she couldn't make herself utter a single word. Her mouth refused to work, and any excuses she wanted to make refused to escape her lips. It hurt too much to speak as the images still continued to haunt and mock her.

The look in her green eyes however was enough for Reito. "Natsuki's just probably tired Mikoto. I'm sure she is fine and is merely catching her breath," he provided the excuse for her.

Natsuki wondered why Reito would help her when she had always shown apathy and slight hostility towards him.

Mikoto on the other hand wasn't easily convinced and asked Natsuki for reassurance, "Are you really tired, Natsuki?"

Seeing as her friend continued to worry about her emotionally state, she decided to accept Reito's explanation.

"Yeah, Mikoto, I'll be fine, just catching my breath, that's all. There's no need to worry," she reassured the brunette as she pushed herself to get up and put on a happy face.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine Mikoto, why don't we go on ahead and get out of here? It's getting quite a bit chilly in here," she forced herself to smile reassuringly to her younger friend as she began to slowly walk ahead, waiting for the siblings to follow.

Once Reito had caught up beside Natsuki, she couldn't help but whisper her gratitude to the handsome man.

"Thank you," she whispered so softly that it almost didn't make it to Reito's ears.

Reito smiled gently, "You are welcome."

* * *

"What slowpokes!" Nao couldn't help but quip to lighten up Shizuru's mood as they waited for their companions to catch up to them at the exit. "I bet Natsuki's fascinated on what she would look like if she didn't lay off the mayo," Nao couldn't help but pick on the other girl as she chuckled on her own joke.

The little joke seemed to relax Shizuru slightly as she too began to chuckle at the image of a potbellied Natsuki earlier and how red and flustered the biker girl got from the embarrassment.

Nao couldn't help but smile inwardly at being able to make Shizuru laugh, not many people can make the other girl relax. Now that they were alone, she intended to take full advantage of it.

She subtly began to scan her surroundings. Finally, her gaze landed on a specific ride that made her eyes gleam brighter and suppressed the urge to fluster. Would she dare take such a blatant step?

Shizuru, on the other hand, had started reigning control of her feelings and was starting to recover. She pushed all her negative thoughts and feelings at the back of her mind as she tried to distract herself from her melancholy. Now that she was no longer being tortured by the mirrors, she was slowly getting herself back together.

"I bet you they got lost," Nao's voice filtered through her thoughts. She could tell the redhead was getting bored waiting for their other companions to catch up.

As much as she wanted to make sure that Natsuki was alright, she began to start feeling a little silly for overreacting earlier. She needed to be strong for Natsuki. She needed to stop trying to suffocate the girl with her affections and rushing by the biker's side every time she looked distressed. She needed to control herself and waiting outside for her with a lovelorn expression would not help matters between them. So, she decided to distract herself from such feelings by trying to have fun like before.

Shizuru knew her companion was getting restless, and decided to follow her gaze only for it to land on an unusual ride.

"Ara? Does Nao-san feel nostalgic?" she couldn't help but tease her as she gazed at the swan shaped boats.

"Don't be stupid, Shizuru!" Nao grumbled as she tried to suppress the urge to blush. "For your information, I have never ridden those stupid things!"

"But you want to, is that right?" Shizuru pressed on as she couldn't help but tease the redhead even further. "Or are you trying to be Miss Too Cool to ride a romantic swan boat?"

"I can so ride the boat if it didn't look so lame!" Nao retorted back trying to maintain her dignity, but in the back of her mind she was smiling. Things were going smoothly and if she continued to protest, she wouldn't even have to be the one to ask Shizuru to accompany her on the ride.

"Really?" Shizuru raised one eyebrow clearly doubting the redhead. "Let's go then!" she then began to head towards the Boat Ride.

"I'll show you," Nao grumbled but inwardly she was pleased, everything was falling into plan.

* * *

A couple of minutes later, Mikoto, Natsuki and Reito finally emerged from the House of Mirrors and were now looking for Shizuru and Nao.

"Maybe they're still inside?" Mikoto suggested.

"If they were, we would have either bumped into them or seen their images reflected in the mirror. No, Mikoto. They've definitely managed to get out." Reito answered his sister. He didn't add the fact that he knew they had managed to find the exit sooner since he saw a glimpse of the two of them walking away together reflected through the mirrors before they found a very distressed Natsuki.

Natsuki meticulously studied her surroundings wondering where the other two girls could be when Mikoto's questioning voice caught her attention.

"Isn't that them?" Mikoto couldn't help but grin at being able to spot their friends about to enter another ride. "That's not fair! They're going without us!"

But Natsuki wasn't concerned about fairness especially when she realized what kind of ride Nao and Shizuru were about to get on.

"Come on and let's join them, Mikoto," Natsuki said with gritted teeth as the other girl and a confused looking Reito followed her as she stomped towards where Nao and Shizuru were.

* * *

After a brief wait, it was finally Nao and Shizuru's turn, as the barker guided and assisted them to the swan boat.

"And not a moment too soon," Nao couldn't help but thought as she caught glimpse of her rival as well as their other companions.

Nao smirked at the sight of her rival's arrival as the other people waiting in line impeded her destination. She could see many of them protesting at her for trying to push in to catch up to them.

"Ara, it seems Nao-san is already enjoying the ride and we haven't even gotten far yet," Shizuru's amused tone caught her attention, immediately switching Nao's gaze towards her companion.

Nao grinned brightly as she spoke, "You bet I am."

* * *

"Damn it!" Natsuki couldn't help but swear as she glared at Nao and Shizuru's slowly departing form.

"There are only three couples ahead of us Kuga-san, I'm sure we will be able to catch up to them." Reito tried to reassure the biker girl.

Natsuki had no choice but seethed wondering what the redhead was up to.

* * *

"Shizuru," Nao started a bit awkwardly, wanting to get the other girl's attention away from their surroundings just incase she realizes that their other companions were at the starting bank.

"Yes, Nao-san?" Shizuru looked at her companion curiously, wondering what was on her mind.

"What would you say I am to you?" Nao boldly asked since she wasn't really fond of beating around the bush to get her message across. She wanted to know how the other girl felt about her first before maybe trying to confess to her about how she felt.

Shizuru was caught off guard by such a question, and felt her stomach churn unpleasantly. "What do you mean, Nao-san?"

Nao sighed. "What am I to you, Shizuru? Am I just a charity case to you, or something you feel that you must make up to because of what happened at the HiME carnival?" she asked rather nervously as she looked away. She was trying to prepare herself to whatever unpleasant answer the other woman in front of her may reply.

Shizuru, on the other hand, frowned. _What could possibly bring Nao to ask such a question?_ She asked herself, but as the silence lingered between them, so did Nao's question resonate through her mind. _What was Nao to her?_

She looked at the other girl, as though she was looking at her for the very first time. Nao appeared to be tough, invincible and rough on the exterior, but she knew beneath all of her aloof persona, lay a vulnerable little girl who had lost her way. While it was true that it took some time to finally get Nao to trust her and get to know her, she also found that she had somehow grown fond of the girl. If it wasn't for Nao's presence, she wouldn't have been able to face another day without Natsuki by her side.

Shizuru closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to choose her words carefully as she reached out to the other girl and laid her hand on top of hers. Perhaps Nao was insecure about their fast paced friendship since she only seen Nao in either Minagi Mikoto or Senou Aoi's company.

"Don't ever think that, Nao-san. You are not a charity case. You never were and never have been. You had faced the cruel world alone and had become stronger because of it. Never feel that I spend time with you because of guilt because while it first started as so, you have grown dear and close to me," as she squeezed the other girl's hand in reassurance.

"Shizuru," was all Nao could say, mesmerized by Shizuru's beautiful and heartfelt answer, "I…" was all she could say before their boat suddenly shook from sudden impact.

* * *

"Damn you," Nao growled under her breath as she glared at the biker. She had just ruined a perfect opportunity for her.

"We caught you!" Mikoto squealed in delight with Natsuki behind her with a pair of oars, a little out of breath but otherwise looking relieved. Nao was sure that Natsuki paddled with all her might to catch up to their boat.

"It seems you have," Shizuru replied back at the overzealous brunette. She was glad to be reunited with their companions but wondered curiously where their male companion was. "Where is Reito-kun?"

"Aniue stayed behind. Yup! A lot of girls wanted to ride with him on the boat since he didn't have a partner!" Mikoto answered for her as she pointed at her brother back at the loading dock and waving at him.

Shizuru merely smiled at the thought of Reito being mauled by his fan club and shook her head in amusement.

Natsuki, in the meanwhile, steered their swan boat along side Shizuru's so that both boats are now drifting beside each other. Natsuki smirked when she saw her rival almost growled at her. She knew Nao wouldn't be able to ditch them again without looking like she was doing it deliberately.

Mikoto didn't waste anytime relaying what had happened to them in the hall of mirrors only halting when Natsuki had covered her mouth with her hand when she was about to tell them how she and her brother found Natsuki.

"Ara?" Shizuru asked in wonder at Natsuki's reaction.

"What's wrong, Kuga?" Nao smirked rather evilly, it seemed her rival didn't want their hyperactive friend to say something about her, "Let Mikoto speak."

Natsuki looked stricken. She didn't want Shizuru to know about her meltdown

Mikoto, quickly catching on that Natsuki probably didn't want their other friends to worry about her decided to let the topic go and change the subject. "I'm hungry! Let's all go back and eat!"

"Ara, but we ate not too long ago," Shizuru airily stated. "Also there's no rush to get back since the ride is about to end soon."

True to Shizuru's words, the ride was coming to an end; it was just that the girls were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to even pay attention to their surroundings.

Natsuki was relieved that she was now beside Shizuru, though she still felt uneasy because not too far from them was the notorious redhead keeping a close eye on them.

* * *

Shizuru couldn't help but giggle when Reito had joined their little group. He looked haggard and strained. She would have felt sorry for him if she didn't remember what he had done to her the other day by leaving her to fend herself against her own fanclub, but it seems her amusement didn't last for long.

As soon as Reito's fanclub spotted her, they couldn't help but squeal in girlish delight which of course annoyed both Natsuki and Nao because of the irritating noise the fanclub had created. It seems the girls' gushing over Reito was none other than the members of the notorious KFC (Kanzaki/Fujino Club).

"Kaichou-sama!" the girls gushed as they witnessed Reito approached her side, totally ignoring Nao, Natsuki and Mikoto's presence.

"Hello everyone, how are you all?" Shizuru greeted them with a polite smile as expected of her. Of course her greeting was greeted with massive swooning as well as more fan club fussing along with a little squealing.

"Good! Very good kaichou-sama!," were some of the various responses Shizuru had received excitedly from them as they eyed her and Reito.

"Thank you lovely ladies for keeping me company, but I think Shizuru and I should really start heading off," he then placed a hand behind Shizuru's lower back while giving Shizuru a subtle pleading look.

Shizuru was inclined to disagree, but she knew that if she disagreed with Reito, they would be hounded by the fan girls throughout the duration of their outing, so with little choice she complied.

She gave bid them farewell as she allowed Reito to lead her away from the fan girls whom squealed with delight as they watched their respective idols walk off oblivious to their other three companions, two of which were grumbling to themselves, who followed after them, well two of them anyway. Mikoto was just too energetic to let anything get her down.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me," Nao said herself out loud as she stood in front of their next, would be entertainment.

Mikoto stared at the building structure wide-eyed as she had never actually stood still before when she first entered something similar in their culture fest at school. She was more concerned in trying to find some relief from the spicy ramen she had consumed with Chie, she did however remember seeing Haruka and Yukino briefly and they were dressed up rather comically, perhaps they would also be in the building too.

Already, Mikoto felt giddy at the prospect at entering the building and looked around her companions eagerly gauging their moods if they too feel as excited as she does.

Reito couldn't help but smile amusedly at his younger sister's delightful expression. He knew she couldn't wait until they got in. He was also a bit curious at what his younger sister's reaction would be to the supposed to be "residents" of the building. He then couldn't help but grin as he took a sweeping glance at the rest of their entourage, "Make that their reactions" he mentally corrected himself.

"Shall we?" Shizuru asked nonchalantly when she really did feel excited, her heart was pumping with anticipation wondering if there's any difference with the one Haruka had organized for the festival and an actual professional one.

Natsuki, on the other hand, merely raised a dubious eyebrow. She just shrugged her shoulders and followed the rest of her friends enter the building, above the door read a familiar slogan as eerie noises soon filtered out the open door. "Welcome to the House of Horrors".

Some time later...

Shizuru's group left the building with mixed emotions, with Nao and Natsuki having a telltale pink hue on their cheeks. Reito, on the other hand, was seen apologizing to a few men while handing them a few yen notes, and Mikoto was as hyperactive as ever.

As it turned out, Nao and Natsuki had been boasting to each other at how lame the attraction was when they had entered the building when out of the blue, a guy wearing a hockey mask jumped in front of them. Due to shock and surprise, the two girls screamed.

Acting on instinct, Natsuki punched the guy breaking his mask and coincidentally making the guy's nose bleed. Immediately Natsuki felt embarrassed to be caught by surprise and slightly guilty for punching the guy only to hear Nao's sniggering. This only resulted for them to continue bickering.

Shizuru couldn't help but be amused by the shrill screams both green-eyed beauties emitted when they had been caught by surprise. Their various violent reactions towards the people in costume as well as well placed props that popped out of nowhere greatly amused her. Her amusement however turned to pity when she realized how much the girls' reactions have caused a decent amount of damage to the workers as well as equipment.

She couldn't help hiding her grin, when during the most inopportune times, the two green-eyed girls jumped and clung to her arms (and cut off some circulation), but nonetheless amused by their reactions.

Mikoto didn't waste anytime giving her own set of retribution to the props as well as its costumed workers, and unlike Nao or Natsuki, she was not caught by surprise. Years of training in the mountains made her the ultimate warrior, thus she was prepared for all the establishment's so called "surprise attacks" which left Reito to foot the bill of the damages his companions has caused, he was a gentleman after all.

* * *

The group explored the amusement park, from roller coasters, pirate ships, game booths to food stalls and shows. They had practically done and tried everything. It wasn't long before dusk had finally came, leaving the group to watch the last event before finally calling it a day.

The group was settled in a small grassy area provided for the patrons of the park to watch the fireworks display. Natsuki and Nao still stayed close to Shizuru's side while Mikoto and Reito sat before them.

When the lights has been turned off, the park's sound system resonated through the open area exciting Mikoto as well as the other patrons surrounding them.

"IT'S STARTING!" Mikoto announced in glee as indeed the dark sky soon erupted with assortment of different colours and lights.

Around them, Natsuki could see families, friends and lovers all marveling at the beautiful display, but they all slowly drifted away from her conscious as she became aware of warm weight at her side.

When the fireworks began, Shizuru couldn't help but hold her breath as she watched in awe like the rest of the people. She quickly gazed at Nao when she felt the redhead's hand reach for hers.

Nao gently squeezed her hand and gave her a warm smile, which Shizuru happily returned. Nao continued to watch the display, unable to wipe the smile off of her lips still holding Shizuru's hand.

The sight the fireworks provided seemed to have cast a spell over her as she relaxed and leaned towards Natsuki unaware of her actions.

Natsuki didn't care much either way as she enjoyed the fireworks display as she too leaned against Shizuru. Breathing out a sigh of contentment as she enjoyed Shizuru's familiar presence that seemed to engulf her whole being. She wanted to close her eyes and enjoy the feeling of Shizuru being close to her, wishing that the feeling will never end or that the night itself wouldn't end but she knew she couldn't. Deep inside she also didn't want to close her eyes because in the back of her mind she still couldn't believe that she was enjoying such magnificent display with Shizuru. It would have been better if she Shizuru in her arms but she didn't want to rush things yet in fear of pushing Shizuru away.

Natsuki decided not to rush things with Shizuru. One careless word or action could send Shizuru away from her and she couldn't bear it if she lost Shizuru again, so even though it pained her that she couldn't hold Shizuru the way she wanted to, she reasoned to herself that at the very least Shizuru still cared for her and she will work hard in getting Shizuru back. At the moment she was just content to be by the woman she loved by her side.

Reito looked back behind him to see if Nao, Shizuru and Natsuki were enjoying the display much like he and his sister was and was surprised at what he saw.

He looked up back towards the brilliantly colored night sky and shook his head in wry amusement. He doubted that his three lady companions even realized how beautiful yet intriguing they are. The emotions they felt were on display for the world to see, and what amused him more was the fact that he doubted they even knew themselves how easy it was to read them or how just by looking at them, that Shizuru was already deeply entangled in both the two younger women's lives.

And even though the image of the three women together was breathtakingly beautiful, it also brought great trepidation and troubled his mind. For he could already tell that with their great bond, also comes great heartbreak… one that he wishes will never have to happen..

* * *

**xxxxxxx**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I hope you like this latest update. I know it's quite a read but I hope you enjoyed it.

It seems each chapter is getting longer as I progress more into the story, I'll try and not to over describe each scene anymore since I'm trying to read this story as clear as possible for others to see it from my point of view but its so damn hard!!

Sighs...

Well that is all right now. Again, I would like to thank **zelene2004 **for editing my work. Thank you very much.

I would also like to thank the readers that continue to support and review my stories. It is because of you that I am still writing and updating.

So please leave me a review. Your reviews to me are like tea to Shizuru-sama, or Mayo to Natsuki and even cellphones to Nao!

**Ja Ne**


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